On Our Own, Against the world (On Hold)
by Growlichujess
Summary: This a PruCan fanfic! Opinions and suggestions and greatly appreciated! I hope I don't disappoint you when I say that there won't be any mature content in this story! "It's almost...peaceful" Prussia whispered "Two outcasts, united, but on our own..."
1. Chapter 1

"Kumakichi!" Matthew (Canada) called as his polar bear jumped out of his arms, "What in the world are you doing?" The bear ignored him and continued away from his owner. The bear's real name is Kumajiro, but Matthew just can't seem to remember that, in return, the Kumajiro doesn't really know who is owner is.

Kumajiro stuck himself into a nearby bush and started digging around. The two of them were on their way to visit Matthew's brother, Alfred, otherwise known as America. He had called earlier that day, saying something about a new trade proposal. Although Matthew didn't enjoy dealing with Alfred, he felt obligated to at least hear his brother out.

"Oh come on Kumakichi!" he groaned, grabbing the bear's hind legs and trying to pull him out of the bush, but the stubborn bear refused to get out. He eventually gave up trying to pull him out and instead decided to see what was causing his bear to act in such a manner. He pushed open the branches of the bush to reveal a little bird. Even though Matt was very well informed about his Canadian wildlife, this bird was unfamiliar to him, but he could tell was that it was 1: Obviously owned by somebody as it was wearing a little hat, and 2: By looking at the awkward angle of it, the poor creature's wing was broken. He gently scooped up the bird in his hands, cringing at its small cries of protest and pain.

"Poor thing, I'll bring you home and fix you right up, okay?" He said to it, then looked down at his bear "Good job Kumajiro" finally saying its name correctly. The bear gave his owner a smug, but happy look and started following behind him.

When the three of them arrived back in the Canada manor, Matthew went straight to the small barn he had out back. In it was his single-horse stable. He got Kumajiro to bring him a little bit of the hay and once it was under a brighter light, laid the bird in it. Kumajiro watched his owner intently as he expertly patched up the bird's wing. It was a long and tedious process, but when it was all said and done, Canada sat up proudly, and sighed.

"You'll be alright now, don't worry!" He said cheerily. He formed the bit of hay into a more nest-like structure and put a soft handkerchief in it to use as a bit of a blanket. Matt was about to place the hat, which he had taken off sometime while he was helping the bird, back on it, when he noticed there was some writing inside; in a fancy gold print read "Gilbird the Awesome".

"Well, then you must be Gilbird" Matt said, smiling. He realized then that he had forgotten to call Alfred to tell him he had to cancel. He let out a little breath.

"Al's not going to be happy when I tell him I skipped out on him for a little bird" Matt said sadly to his bear, and with a puff, he stood up, taking the nest with him to his own bedroom where the bird would be able to rest.

In the Canada manor, there are two head maids, British-Canada and French-Canada, but they go by the names Elizabeth and Fantine. They both were very nice people, but when it came to seriously talking to Matthew, their voices were loud and demanding. Although Fantine was smaller than Elizabeth, she always seemed to have a stronger voice.

"Bonsoir Canada, Comment allez-vous? (Good evening Canada, how are you?)" Fantine asked, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.

"Bien, merci. J'ai aidé un petit oiseau, mais J'ai manqué cette rencontre avec Amérique (Good, thanks. I helped a small bird, but I missed that meeting with America)" He replied back in French. "pouvez-vous appeler Alfred pour moi? Je suis très fatigue ( Can you call Alfred for me ? I'm very tired)". He hadn't realized how late it had gotten already, and he suddenly was exceptionally tired. Fantine nodded.

"I will get Elizabeth to do it though, her English is better than mine." She said.

"Your English is fine Fantine, there are no worries, but you can get Elizabeth to do it if you wish. Well, bonne nuit! (good night!)". And with that, Canada was off to bed. He checked up on Gilbird one last time, giving him some water, although he wasn't sure if there was any certain food he should feed him, instead he just left some seeds from the bird feeder beside him if he got hungry. Matthew didn't even bother to change, in his semi-formal attire, he plopped down on the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The next day, he awoke to the sun streaming through the window into his eyes. Not only that, but Gilbird was chirping angrily at Kumajiro, who was curiously watching the bird.

"Oh stop it you two," Matthew grumbled into his pillow, he was still kind of tired and wanted more sleep, but then he shot up, awake.

"MERDE! (crap!)" He said out loud, and ran to his bathroom. He had just remembered there was a meeting over something he didn't really care about and forgot. He checked the calendar and sure enough, today's date had been circled. He showered and got dressed in a rush, and bolted off.

Running through the halls whilst carrying a polar bear and a briefcase is quite and exercise, Matt realized. He burst through the doors of the meeting to see the faces of the fellow countries watching him, surprised.

"I'm terribly sorry everybody! The strangest thing happened this morning! My alarm didn't go off…" and his voice trailed off as he saw nobody was actually listening to him, nothing out of the ordinary there.

"We were, um… waiting for you, Canada" Britain stuttered, but secretly, Matthew doubted he had even remembered his existence, nobody really did, even America sometimes, which is ridiculous!

Matthew sat down, slightly embarrassed.

"Can we just get this over with, Prussia's living at my place now and I have never seen my brother have such a tantrum! He can't find his bird and he's been searching high and low for him," Germany grumbled across the table.

"Gilbird?" Matthew said, but once again, nobody listened to him. The meeting continued, and as usual, everybody disagreed with everybody. The only difference was: Veneziano spotted Kumajiro while he was bored out of his mind during the whole thing and came to sit beside Matthew, petting the polar bear, but otherwise, Matt was completely ignored during the entire meeting. In the end, nothing was concluded, and there were just a lot of arguments.

When everybody stood up to leave, Italy decided to start talking to Canada.

"So Prussia has been very scary lately, and I mean scarier than usual. He can't find his cute bird anywhere, he said when he came back from a visit to America, Gilbird was nowhere to be found!"

"Gilbird? A little yellow bird?" Matthew replied in his loud voice, struggling to be heard about the rest of the noise.

"Ve~~ how did you know? Have you met him?"

"Actually I think I found him, I was on my way to America's place when Kumakichi here found the poor guy in a bush with a broken wing."

"Really! That's great America! You should come over to Germany's place with him, so Prussia can stop freaking out!"

"Umm… I hate to tell you this Italy, but I'm not Ame-"

"Germany!" Italy called desperately, completely ignoring Canada, running after Germany once he spotted him leaving. Matthew sighed. He was always being mistaken for his loud-mouthed brother.

-Some time later-

Matthew stood there, trying to calm himself. Kumajiro was on his back and had the nest holding Gilbird in his hands. He was standing outside Germany's place, trying to work up the courage to knock on his door. He could hear the muffled voices from inside.

"Where's America! What did he do to Gilbird! I swear if he harmed a single feather on his little back it will be WAR I tell you. WAR! NO ONE HARMS THE AWESOME PRUSSIA'S BIRD OF AWESOMENESS!" came a voice that was obviously Prussia's. At this, Matthew gulped, maybe he should play as his brother, he thought for a second, so if anything went wrong, his brother would be blamed for it. At that thought, he stopped himself.

"You're starting to think like him now!" He whispered to himself.

With a deep breath, he knocked hesitantly on the door. It instantly flung open to reveal a tall, silver-haired man with burning red eyes that stared down at him for a second, then they saw Gilbird and he let out a little squeal of joy. He took the nest from Matthew's hands and started dancing around with it. He seemed so happy to see his bird again, and Gilbird was singing pleasantly as well, but then he saw his wing and shot a burning look of accusation over to Matthew.

"I-I-I found him, w-well, actually K-Kumakich- I mean Kumajiro found him in a b-b-bush, and his w-wing was b-broken and…" He managed to get out. He was suddenly filled with fear under Prussia's hateful gaze, but then Germany walked out, Japan and Italy trailing behind.

"Prussia, you should really thank America for bring Gilbird back, I mean you did leave him behind…" Germany stated, but the hate-filled gaze went over to him.

"The _awesome_ Prussia would never leave his Gilbird behind!" He roared, "And to hell that's America! It's Canada, obviously!"

With that, he seemed to cool down a little bit, and turned his attention back to his little bird. Matthew stood there, motionless. For once, somebody had recognized him, although he couldn't really remember a time when he had actually been introduced to Prussia.

"You saved him… you saved my Gilbird" Prussia said with a surprising tone, a complete contrast to the attitude that he had a few moments ago. This guy was really starting to confuse Matthew.

"Yay!" Italy shouted with cheer, "Gilbird's back!" and he started hopping around Japan excitedly. He got a patient look from Germany, but he then walked up and put a hand on his brother's back. Matthew realized that Prussia, a man who seemed to be strong as steel, was starting to tear up as he whispered something that sounded like "I thought I had lost you forever" over and over. He understand how important it was to remain composure during some situations, so he tried to help him out.

"Well, I guess my work here is done," He piped up, or at least the best he could with his quiet voice. "I mended his wing and it should be fine within a few days, but no flying or other strainful exercises for him until his wing has fully mended."

"O.K. Dr. America!" Italy said, saluting.

"Canada!" Japan corrected him.

"O.K. Dr. Canada!"

Prussia just looked at him with a curious look, but a thankful one none-the-less. Putting Gilbird on his shoulder, he walked up and held out his hand. Matthew shook it.

"Thank you" he said.

"Oh it was n-nothing," Matthew stuttered again, suddenly nervous again, "Just a small fracture, nothing too serious-"

"yes, but more for bringing him back to me, I don't know what I would do without him. I'm not France, who has a million Pierre's on hand, there is only one Gilbird for me…" He said, his voice very serious. Germany gave him a strange look. Matthew realized then that he was actually slightly taller than Prussia. Although he had an intimidation to him that made him appear very big and menacing, up close, he was probably a few centimeters shorter.

"hahaha" he laughed nervously, tearing his gaze from Prussia's, "as I said, it was nothing."

Prussia just nodded, but he hadn't let go of Matthew's hand yet. When he looked back into the red eyes, there was a new, unfamiliar look in them. He was entranced, and it was only when Kumajiro swatted at his owner's curled hair that he was brought back to reality.

"I'm hungry" Kumajiro said impatiently. Matthew just chuckled.

"Okay, Kumakichi" Canada said back, and Prussia let his hand go, slightly embarrassed. He started to walk away when Matthew remembered to ask.

"Oh, uh, Prussia?" He said shyly, " I, uh, just wanted to know… Well how did you tell I was not my brother?" He kind of cringed when Prussia's gaze settled back on him, there was a pause, but the answer he got was not what he expected.

"Because you look like somebody who is solitary, you hold yourself up like you are silently waiting for the world to throw its worst at you. Even when you're scared, you don't really show it, and you seem like you're used to being a loner, while that brother of yours would be loud, obnoxious, and overall annoying.

"You remind me of myself…" He added silently as he turned away and walked silently back into the house.

With that, the group dispatched, the rest of them thanked him for bring back peace to the Germany house, and Kumajiro kept swatting at Matthew's stray hair.

It was a long journey home, but with Kumajiro nibbling on some of the snacks Matt brought along, it wasn't so bad.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

AN: Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far!

Weeks had passed since his encounter with Prussia, but for some reason, there was a constant nagging in the back of his mind…

Matthew awoke to the smell of pancakes cooking. He knew then that today would be a good day, for even Kumajiro was peacefully asleep. He lazily sat up when somebody started hesitantly knocked on his door.

"Yesssss?" He said.

"Excuse me , I hope I didn't wake you, but Fantine and I have made some pancakes!" came Elizabeth's voice.

"Oooh! Thank you! And for the last time, no need to be formal! Just call me Matt!" he called back. Elizabeth and Fantine were nearly identical twins, they both had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, but Fantine had a stubborn set to her mouth, and Elizabeth's eyes were a slightly darker shade.

Matthew had never mistaken one for the other.

Ever.

Alfred on the other hand….

Well, Matthew considers these two his sisters, but they were basically Britain and France's daughters that he looks after. Country family trees can be a little confusing, so let's just go with what Matthew considers them; sisters.

He stood up and stretched. He debated on waking up Kumajiro, but didn't have to as the change of weight on the bed mixed with the delicious smell of pancakes and maple syrup was enough to wake him. In his maple leaf pajamas, he walked down the stairs into the kitchen, it was becoming spring, but there was still some snow on the ground. Matthew hungrily sat down with his two sisters and they all cheerfully indulged. He almost forgot to set a plate of pancakes for Kumajiro, who was not very happy that his food was late.

He thanked the two of them for their kindness, and went back to his room. He decided he would patrol his land as an RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) [if you don't know what that is, here you go! . . ] There was something about putting on that bright red, symbolic uniform that made his heart soar every time. Once he had showered and got ready, he put his contacts in and put on the uniform. He looked at himself in his mirror, making sure it was fitted perfectly. He spotted Kumajiro watching him.

"Do you remember who I am now?" He asked the bear quietly, fixing the hat on his head.

"…yes" was the only response he got. Thinking back to the time he first met Kumajiro was a sad memory, and he didn't want to bring it up on what seemed to be a happy day.

He left the bear on his bed since he was dozing off again after his big meal. Walking out to the stables, he called to Fantine and Elizabeth, telling them he'd be out late. He approached his horse with a warm heart and smile. Stroking her mane, he saddled her up. The horse was black and elegant, and Matthew had hand-picked this one. There are very strict rules about RCMP horses; they have to be a specific colour, temperament, and range of height and weight. On the stable door, there was a bronze plaque that read "Tommahawk". Every time they get a new foal, a Canada-wide competition goes out for the kids to suggest names. Tommahawk was the suggestion Matthew picked, it just seemed... fitting. The word represented a power, yet the slight misspelling really showed off how she was different, but special. Once everything was fitted on the horse, he led her out of the barn.

The sun made it warm enough to be comfortable in his uniform, while the thin layer of snow still around made the air crisp. He took a deep breath and looked around with admiration, what had he done to deserve such a beautiful land, he thought to himself. Hopping on Tommahawk, they rode off.

"Gilbird, what's wrong?" Prussia said worriedly when his beloved bird wouldn't fly. He had taken off the dressings Canada had put on but the bird still refused to use the wing.

"Little bro!" He called out to Germany, who poked his head inside Prussia's bedroom.

"Hmmm?" He responded.

"You have Canada's number right?"

"ummmmmm, I have America's, but I don't believe I have Canada's"

"WHAT? Why not?"

"Well, I've never really talked to the guy, and I can't even tell him apart from his brother-"

"You're ridiculous. Call America and get Canada's number, I think something might be wrong with Gilbird!"

"Fine, fine, but why don't you call him yourself?"

"Are you asking the MIGHTY and AWESOME Prussia to ask America for a favour? You're out of your mind."

With that, Germany sighed and did what Prussia asked, but reluctantly went back to him a little while after.

"Well apparently America doesn't remember Canada's number"

"Does nobody ever talk to the guy?!"

"Well he does seem like kind of a loner…" Germany got a strange look from Prussia for that one.

"Well then call anybody else, France, Britain, surly one of them will have it"

"I already did when America didn't have it; apparently nobody knows it off the top of their heads"

"Well fine, looks like your house will be lacking awesome since I will just have to vacation to Canada myself."

"Really? Do you even know where Canada is?" Germany said doubtfully.

"Of course I do. It's the second largest country in the world; I don't think _Italy_ could miss it." He retorted. Germany just shrugged.

So Prussia packed up, and traveled with Gilbird to Canada. It was a fairly long journey, and to be honest, he had no idea what to expect, he didn't know what Canada was like, the land that is. From what he had heard, it's really barren, vast, and otherwise kind of plain. From what Germany had heard the country is nearly uninhabited because you can't live in most of the areas. It took him a while to find Canada's house, but after giving into humiliation and asking directions, he was able to find it. 24 Sussex Drive they all said.

He walked up to the house, it was quite plain compared to the other countries homes, two stories and very modest, the house itself was a grey brick while the roof was a darker shade. There was a quaint barn out back, and the house was surrounded by different landscapes. To the east were vast forests, west were open plains, and the north was tundra.

Prussia immediately went up and knocked feverishly on the door, but the woman who answered was not the man he was hoping to see.

"Hello, bonjour. What can I help you with, monsieur?" Said a petit woman with an accent that he never associated with Canada, in fact, she sounded kind of like France.

"I'm looking for Canada, is he here?" he asked.

"Je suis désole, I mean, I'm sorry, he left a few hours ago, patrolling as usual. You're welcome to stay here until he comes back, but that might be a while, he's normally out all night when he-"

"It's okay then, I think I will go sightseeing for a while, so I'll come back later." Prussia told her politely.

"Okay, well if you need anything you can call the manor, the phone number is literally 111-1111, it's not hard to forget" She said.

"Apparently" whispered Prussia.

"Well will you come for dinner? I need to know if we should make extra" the woman asked.

"Sure, I'll come back then, if you wouldn't mind" Prussia said.

"Alright, it will be kind of late tonight if you don't mind. Possibly around 10, Mr. Canada said he was hoping to have some poutine, if you don't mind."

"Poutine?"

"A Canadian delicacy" Came a giggling voice from behind her. Holding Canada's bear was a woman who was nearly identical to the one he was talking to. The woman looked at him appraisingly.

"Who's this, sis?" She said.

"uh-"

"Prussia, the awesome" He said in his sexy voice, might as well, the thought.

To his surprise, when Gilbird saw Kumajiro, the bird flew right on over and sat on his head.

The two sisters looked at each other and giggled again, but Prussia was actually kind of excited to take a look around the new place. It didn't seem barren and empty at all, but almost like it was a secret beauty, preserved in the wildlife.

"Come on Gilbird, we have places to go and things to see!" He called for his bird, and he obediently went back to his owner.

As they wandered off, Prussia found himself, for the first time, actually… adoring his surroundings. His whole life had been revolving around power, control, and he never really got a break. He felt…

Peaceful.

It was that moment he realized the sun was starting to set, he had spent the whole day just wandering through the trails. He came to the end of one, and looked around. That's when he spotted a figure atop a hill.

It was a hill overlooking a massive, sparkling lake that seemed to glow in the sunset. When Prussia was finally able to tear his eyes away from the beauty of it, he noticed the figure was actually a man cloaked in red sitting tall and proud on a magnificent, black horse. He wished he had brought a camera, it was an amazing sight.

It struck him that the man on the horse reminded him of himself, looking over his kingdom. It was such a powerful and tranquil moment that he could hardly take it. He walked over to that hill, where the man sat motionless, just watching, taking it all in. Once he was standing beside the horse, he finally decided to make some noise.

"It's beautiful" Prussia said.

"Gah!" the man said looked down at him with surprise and the horse got spooked so it started thrashing about. It rear and whinnied, so the man expertly hopped off and calmed it down. Prussia ran back a bit, getting out the crazed horses' way.

"I'm so sorry! She normally doesn't get spooked like that, she was just surprised that's all, are you okay?" The familiar voice said.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Prussia asked, puzzled. He had been the one who spooked the horse, which could of actually hurt the man, but the man was apologizing to... him?

"I shouldn't have let my guard down like that, you scared me, and I guess you scared her as well." He said, regaining some cheer in his voice. "Oh, Prussia? Is that you?" he said.

"Canada! Hi! And of course it's me Prussia, how could my awesomeness ever be mistaken?" He said proudly, but on the inside he was still a little frightened from the whole ordeal.

"Hahaha of course! And please, call me Matt. So, what in the world brought you here?"

"I thought I'd stop by, I've never been here, and it's actually a really nice place. Do you not get many visitors?"

"We do get quite a few tourists, but the other countries can't be bothered." He said kind of sadly.

"Well, I originally came because of Gilbird, but it's strange, this whole country is so nice and peaceful!"

"Ha, ha, ummm well the country itself is", he said, then whispered quietly to himself: "the people, not so much."

"So I took off Gilbird's dressings, but he still seems a little uncomfortable to fly, I can't get him to use his wing at all."

"Hmmm, I'll check up on him, maybe something mended wrong, but hey, you're lucky, when Kumakichi got a thorn in his paw I had to carry him everywhere for a week before he would even touch the ground again! Then he got lazy and insists I carry him nearly all the time now. I wish he was as light as Gilbird," He said, stroking the feathers on Gilbird's head. There was a sudden twinge in Prussia's heart, just seeing how caring this lonely guy was.

"Alright Prussia, let's head back to my place, did you meet Elizabeth and Fantine?"

"Yes I did, the twins, right?"

"Yeah, were they nice to you?"

"Of course they were, why?"

"Well sometimes, they can get a bit… grouchy to foreign visitors."

So they walked back to Canada's place, Matt lead his horse by its reins and it was a quiet walk, but not an awkward silence, more a peaceful silence. Prussia looked over at Cana – Matt, who was looking around fondly, as if he was taking all of this in for the first time, although it was obvious that he had lived here his entire life.

Prussia wondered if he would ever be able to learn to never take things like this for granted. If he would be able to look at the same scenery everyday and the beauty of it would never dwindle. A sudden respect for Matt came across him.

When they arrived back at the manor, Fantine and Elizabeth were waiting outside.

"Fantine, pouvez-vous s'il vous plaît spectacle Prussia autour de la maison tandis que j'apporte Tommahawk à L'écurie ? [Fantine, can you please show Prussia around the house while I bring Tommahawk to the stable?] "

"what?" Prussia asked, confused.

"Oui, monsieur, venir avec moi s'il vous plaît. [yes, sir, come with me please. ]"

"I don't speak… French is it?"

"My apologies, Prussia," Matt said, slightly embarrassed, " I just asked if Fantine would just show you around the house while I put Tommahawk here back in the stable." He smiled.

Instead of Fantine coming up to help, though, she actually went inside, Prussia was about to follow her inside when Elizabeth started showing him around.

"Um, aren't you Elizabeth?" He asked, confused.

"Oh that's right," Matthew said, face-palming himself, "It's poutine night isn't it? Fantine never lets her sister touch her poutine"

"Okay?" Prussia was getting slightly confused.

"They do that a lot, you ask a favour from one and the other one does it" He said kind of sheepishly.

So Matt went off and Elizabeth took Prussia's arm and started showing him around.

She showed him the kitchen, living room, and the other rooms, except for one. Each room matched a certain theme, it was as if you were in a log cabin, the inner walls were wood and there were paintings up all over the place, a lot of them were by The Group of Seven and Robert Bateman, whoever they were.

There was that one room, inside Matthew's bedroom that had a padlock the size of his fist on it. When he asked Elizabeth about it, she just got sad and didn't answer for a while. Finally she said,

"It's his… special room. I've never been in there, and neither has my sister, but one thing I know, every time he comes out of that room, he's crying. He goes there when he's sad, but I think it always just makes him sadder." She said with a heavy voice. " Mr. Canada, when he's sad, it's scarier then when he's mad, but he only rarely gets mad. When he's sad, his eyes when they look at you, they feel… empty, like his lively spirit is just gone, and he's an empty shell. He looks around like nothing matters, and he normally shuts himself in that room, won't even let Kumajiro in. Poor guy, he's always so lonely, and I feel bad because my sister and I always give him such a hard time, but he takes such good care of us. He really is a good-hearted person, but people always use him and throw him away like trash, I breaks my heart to see him that way." At this point, a stray tear rolled down her face. That was it for Prussia, he didn't want to have to deal with a crying girl, but she didn't stop.

"You have no idea how many times he has come home, frail as a feather, and all beat up. Whenever we ask him about it, he just says he was helping out his brother, but one time, I saw what happened. Canada doesn't know that we know, though. One time Mr. Cuba came up to him, thinking he was , and my god, he just mercilessly beat the crap out of him. It's not very well known, but Canada is actually a really good fighter, but he hates fighting. He just let himself get punched and kicked over, and over again. I wanted to run over and stop it so bad, but Fantine held me back, saying Canada wouldn't want us to know what's going on. Do you know what it's like watching your brother get beaten like that? And the worst part is, in the end, when we asked him; he said that he was just defending his brother. In his mind, he feels that if he's the one who gets beat up instead of his brother, he's keeping that good-for-nothing brother safe! Oh if I had the chance, I will kill that SOB!" Now Prussia had an angry, sobbing woman on his hands, he just started patting her back, as she kind of fell to the floor, but they heard the front door open and Prussia had never seen a woman recover so fast from a meltdown of that magnitude.

Elizabeth led him quickly into a different room and started showing him what appeared to be Matt's study. There was a remarkably large gaming setup. This took Prussia by surprise, Matt seemed like a more outdoors person than a gamer. He didn't really have time to really look around, Fantine called something to us saying that dinner was ready.

There was a burning flame inside of him now. Not only were people abandoning Matt, but he was selflessly shielding them. He was feeling the same rage as Elizabeth at that point. How dare people not only mistake Matt for being America, but be ignorant enough to beat the guy up. He obviously isn't then kind of person who would go to his brother and confront him about it. This guy must be an angel…

On the dining room table, there were 4 plates set up, with what appeared to be large French fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. It didn't really look that appetizing, but it had a French name, so it couldn't be as bad as British food. He sat down as Matt, who had changed out of his uniform and into a hoodie and slacks, put a plate on the ground, I guess for his bear. Gilbird jumped off his shoulder and went back on the bear's head.

Prussia turned his attention back to the platter in front of him, he will admit, it smelled really good.

"I'm so sorry that we didn't prepare a more… formal dinner, but while you are here, you get a little taste of Canada" Matt said with a smile, he then picked up his fork and started eating. Watching Canada eat was probably the only similarity to America he had. Prussia on the other hand stabbed one of the fries and held it up skeptically in front of his face.

"If you don't like it, we can make you something else…" Fantine started, but Prussia gathered his courage and stuffed into his mouth.

He felt his eyes go wide.

"I HERE-BY DECLARE THIS THE NEW FOOD OF AWESOME. CANADA WHY HAVE YOU BEEN HOLDING A FOOD THAT EXPRESSES MY LEVEL OF AWESOMENESS AWAY FROM ME?!" he boomed. He was absolutely in love with this new food. Canada laughed quietly and the twins did that shared giggle again.

"To be honest, I don't think I have ever met a person that could resist Fantine's Poutine." He said and Fantine blushed.

So in the end of their dinner ordeal, Prussia ended up finishing 3 plates of it.

When everybody was done Canada was the one who went and cleaned all the dishes, despite the protests of the maids.

"You two have done so much for me already today!" He said. In the meantime, Prussia was sure to get the whole recipe from Fantine. He called up Germany and told him all about it. Germany noted that Prussia sounded… different.

Matt returned, drying his hands and his slacks.

"So where's Gilbird? I'll take a look at him."

Prussia took Gilbird from Matt's bear's head and Matt led them into his bedroom.

He cleared off his bedside table except for the lamp. Sitting by it, he laid Prussia's bird down so he could inspect the wing. Prussia noticed that Matt was now wearing his glasses, and his hair was falling over his face as he looked over the wing. Gilbird let out some peeps of discomfort but Matt just apologized to him and continued working away. It was quite relaxing watching his expert hands run over the feathers, testing it. He pressed a point on Gilbird's wing and he let out a little peep of pain.

"Ahhh, that's it. " He mumbled to himself, "_Merde_, I'm so sorry, I should have checked to make sure you didn't have anything on your wing before I bandaged it up. This is going to hurt a little bit, sorry, sorry, sorry" He kept saying.

"What's up?" Prussia asked. He was leaning on the desk, watching Matt work. He looked up as if he had almost forgotten that he wasn't alone.

"I made a mistake; I didn't even think that hiding in that bush would've given him a splinter. I wrapped his wing up while it was still in, so the skin has healed over it, but the lack of inflammation indicates there is no infection, but I still need to get it out." Prussia never thought of Canada as a medical person either, but then he remembered how they had invented penicillin, and discovered insulin.

"Can you help me with this, Prussia?"

"Please, call me Gilbert, and sure, what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, that's why his name is Gilbird" he said with a chuckle, but then his voice went serious,"I hate to say this, but you're going to have to hold him down. I don't have any sedatives on hand, and he's such a small bird, I have no idea what amount I would have to give him. I'm just going to have to reopen the wound, take all the wood out, disinfect it, and then wrap it back up."

Prussia nodded, as much as it pained him to be the one holding his beloved bird down while Matt cut open its wing. He carefully removed everything inside, and then cleaned the whole wound out. Once he was all bandaged up, then he wiped his brow, apologizing again.

"So how much do I have to pay you for all your medical services?" Gilbert asked.

"Huh? Oh, you know, you're in Canada, free health care!" He said cheerfully.

"Really?"

"Yeah, that way you can get the treatment you need, no matter how much money you have" He said.

Gilbird fell asleep, that was a lot of stress on him. Matt picked him up and handed him to Gilbert, but Gilbert was giving him a weird look. Gilbert placed Gilbird back on the table and enfolded Matt into a big hug. Matt, surprised, just stood there frozen for a while, but then wrapped his own arms around Gilbert and awkwardly patted his back.

"Thank you" Gilbert whispered to him.

"It was no problem, really" Matt responded. The hug lasted a few more seconds before Prussia pulled away.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed, are you going to stay over?" Matt asked, surprising himself with the hopefulness in his own voice.

"If you would have me, then sure."

So Matt lead Gilbert down the hall to the guest bedroom, which, Gilbert thought, looked like it hadn't been used in years, but it was kept clean. So they said good night, and Gilbert tucked his bird in on his bedside table and lay in bed, trying to sleep.

So much had happened that day, in fact, he couldn't really sleep because of all the things going through his mind. This Canada guy was a saint, that's for sure, a saint who was used and abused by everybody else, and the thought of that infuriated him.

Then there was that door in his room. He couldn't help but think of what was in there. It kept nagging at him, until he just couldn't take it anymore. What could cause poor, kind-hearted Matt to be that sad?

Gilbert was fairly confident in his lock picking skills, but he didn't want to be caught sneaking into Matt's room. So he waited until he was sure everybody was asleep. He tiptoed out of his own room and to where he remembered Matt's was.

This was a risky task, but he couldn't take it anymore, he had to do it. So while praying like crazy for the door not to squeak, he opened Matt's bedroom.

Once he was in the room, he couldn't help but watch Matt for a while. It was freezing cold, even for it being spring, it was all Gilbert could do to not shiver, yet Matt was asleep topless in only a pair of maple leaf PJ pants. He had kicked all the blankets off and didn't even seem to notice the cold. Gilbert realized how defined Matt's body was. He felt like a total creep, but at that moment he didn't care. He never really thought of Matt being that muscular, but instead of being bulky, like Germany, he was leaner.

"Stop it, you have business" he whispered to himself.

So he knelt by the padlock and tried his best using a makeshift lockpick, but it just wouldn't work. He looked back at Matt and saw he was wearing a key around his neck.

"Of course… Dammit" He whispered again. So he quietly walked to Matt's bedside. He was debating on how he was going to get the necklace off when Matt woke up.

Well it seemed that he woke up, when he was actually just sleep-talking.

"France, please!" He whimpered, "Britain is already taking Al's side, don't abandon me too… please, no…." He rolled over and held a pillow, "Grand frère, grand frère, grand frère, non…. [Big brother, big brother, big brother, no…]"

Just watching Matt in such a state, he can only image what he's hiding. He tried his best to get the key by holding Matt's head up, and then pulling the chain over his head. Thankfully Matt was in such a deep sleep he didn't even notice.

Gilbert quickly unlocked the padlock and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. It was pitch dark, and he couldn't find a light switch, so he just pulled out his lighter. In the little room was a couch with a pillow, and a whole wall of photos. In big writing it said, "JUST REMEMBER HAPPIER TIMES"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

AN: I apologize for the lack of communication :( Fanfiction has that 24h rule for new users so please be patient, only a few more hours and I can actually tell you how much I appreciate your input! I know this chapter is really short compared to the others, it's just that I have a major test tomorrow that I haven't been studying for, like at all . So I wanted to put up one more before I leave the internet for today!

[here's just some photos that would be up there (and no, I do not own any of these photos)] . This website won't allow you to post links, so if you want to see them, type in "/68a54521f5551fcad6beed542b90e3ff/tumblr_mlmnao6R p21rilw9to1_ " after the regular 24 . media . tumblr . com (except without the spaces in between the periods :3 Sorry! )

Gilbert stood there, dumbfounded.

On the wall were pictures of what he believed were Matt's childhood, possibly before he became alone. It showed him smiling, brighter than any smile he had ever seen out of him before, pictures of him with his brother, or France, or Britain. Just the sheer surprise and meaning behind all of this was actually enough to make his eyes prick. There were a few hand-drawn things, one was framed, and it as something that Alfred obviously drew. It was a portrait of Matt in crayons, and in a young boy's writing wrote: "I love my brother, Canada!"

It was just too much for Prussia, a tear actually started rolling down his cheek.

That's when he heard Matt start talking again, only this time it wasn't really talking…

"Grand frère! Non! S'il vous plaît! REVENEZ ! GRAND FRÈRE! Revenez… [Big Brother! No! Please! COME BACK! BIG BROTHER! Come back…]" yelled Matt.

Gilbert quickly ran out of the room, locking it behind him, then dropped the necklace with the key beside Matt so it would look like it went over his head in his sleep.

He woke Matt up by shaking him, he was sobbing into his pillow in his sleep. When Gilbert shook him, he shot up, nearly head-butting Prussia in the process.

"Are you okay?" He asked Matt, worried.

Matt just stared ahead, then buried his face in his hands. Prussia, who was used to dealing with Germany as a child, immediately sat in the bed beside him, and put an arm over his shoulders. Matt turned his face towards Gilbert and buried his face in his shoulder, silently sobbing. Gilbert rubbed his back until his breathing evened out, and eventually slowed. Matt was back asleep, but Gilbert didn't have the heart to let him go, not in this time of need. He wasn't like Germany, who would pick fights with others, then come crying back to him when he lost, this was different. Canada was a peaceful country that got picked on. There was nobody here for Canada, they left him all alone. He guessed they thought Canada was strong, which he is. America on the other hand, went crying for Britain whenever a bad plan didn't work out. He understood though, sometimes one child needs more attention than the other, look at the Italy brothers. Veneziano was the wanted one, Romano was very lucky to have Spain look after him as well as he did. Canada had France, but when Britain to him away from France, that's probably what caused all of this. Gilbert could only image what Matt had to go through internally on a daily basis.

In terms of self-control, Matt was probably one of the strongest people he knew.

Listening to Matt's now-steady breathing, plus the new tranquility of holding him, protecting him was enough to let Gilbert relax. He didn't even notice he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't until Kumajiro started nudging him the next morning that he actually realized he had dozed off. Matt was nowhere to be found, but Gilbert awoke lying down in Matt's bed. He ruffled the hair on top of the curious bear's head, and sat up. He noticed that the key on a chain was gone, so Matt must have taken it.

An unfamiliar scent came to him, so he stood up, to go investigate. He placed Gilbird on his shoulder and walked down to the stairs to the main room. Matt was there in the same gear he was in last night; the maple leaf pajama pants and still topless. He was standing in the kitchen by the stove, one hand on his hip, the other on the handle of a frying pan.

Elizabeth must've caught him watching Matt intensively, because she got his attention silently and motioned for him to come into her room. With one last look over to Matt, he went over the twins' room.

Fantine was there too, and she shut the door behind him.

"I'm so sorry about last night, but it happens nearly every night, but normally when we have company he stays up all night just in case." She said

"He was really tired last night, I'm sure he probably tried to…" Elizabeth told her sister, then turning to Prussia, "Did he wake you?"

"I wasn't asleep yet, so… no" He said back in a low voice.

"I do apologize again. It was strange though, he normally goes on all night, but he only did it a couple of times and was silent. How strange, did you do something about it ?" She asked.

Lying, Gilbert just shook his head.

"Well, anyways, let's get out of here before he gets suspicious of us." Fantine said.

So they dispatched, but Gilbert headed to the washroom. Looking in the mirror, he saw his hair was disheveled and his eyes were sleepy. It was probably the best he's slept in a long time. He was having a lot of troubles sleeping lately, no matter how tired he was, he would just end up staring at the ceiling all night.

He washed his face, and arranged his hair in a more decent way. Satisfied, he walked back to the dining room and there were bottles and plates all laid out.

Matt brought out a plate with a massive pile of pancakes on it. He was smiling and cheerful, a total contrast to what he saw last night. Despite the delicious taste of what Matt called maple syrup on his pancakes, he couldn't peel his eyes off of him. Every time Matt looked up, he would catch Gilbert watching him, his face would get all red and he'd look back down at his food. Gilbert didn't care if he got caught watching, he was lost in thought. He was trying to figure this guy out, how could somebody endure whatever he was going through right now, and still be as cheerful as he is?

Interupting his thoughts, the phone started to ring. Elizabeth stood up before Matthew could.

"Really ," She said, "If you keep doing everything in this household you'll put us out of a job!"

"Job? You're my sisters, not my maids!" He said back but Elizabeth had already answered the phone.

Even from where Gilbert sat, he could hear America's loud voice.

"Yo, where's my little bro, whoever-canada maid-girl?" He asked.

Matt let out a little sigh and stood up, taking the phone from Elizabeth.

"For the last time, we're twins, if anything, I'm older, but whatever, what is it-"

"Oh hai! Okay so I'm in a bit of what you'd call a situation here. Dude, you wanna do some, like, serious ass-kicking with me little bro? I'll be the hero of course, you can be my sidekick. How does that sound?"

Matt let out a long breath, running his fingers through his hair, he looked over at the others, and if looks could kill, the look Fantine was giving him would've turned him to stone. Fantine didn't want anything to do with foreign affairs associated with wars, especially when it came to America. Matt laughed nervously, turned away from her and started talking quietly.

Prussia was pretty sure Fantine was just sizzling in her seat, staring at Matt. Prussia leaned over to Elizabeth, giving her a questioning look. She just shook her head shamefully. He was finished his breakfast at this point, so she stood up and took his plates away. He followed her into the kitchen.

"I recommend you leave now, at least do some sightseeing for a bit or else you might be caught in the middle of a storm."

"Huh? My awesome presence should be able to keep everybody calm." He said.

"You know, modesty is an attractive trait," She started violently scrubbing the dishes, "And you don't know my sister, or even me for that matter. Why don't you take a look at some historical museums? Parliament buildings? A few hours will probably be it…"

"Yawn, don't you guys have anything, I don't know, awesome?"

"Just look around, you'll find something" She snapped.

"_VOUS AVEZ FAIT… QUOI?! [YOU DID… WHAT?!]_"Came a shrill voice. At the sound of a plate smashing, Elizabeth grabbed his arms and pushed him out the front door, locking it.

Scared for Matt, he started pounding on the door.

"You let me in! NOBODY locks the _awesome_ and _almighty_ PRUSSIA out!" He called.

He put his ear up against the door, but instead of hearing Elizabeth countering Fantine to get her away from Matt, he heard her voice louder than Fantine's, shouting at Matt.

[RANDOM AN: To be honest, from what I've read about Canadian history, this is actually accurate in how French and British Canadians would confront the government about all their issues. The French Canadians were very open about it when they didn't like something, while the British Canadians were worse, but they did it in a more private way if that makes sense. Little history lesson there for you guys ^^ Now sorry for interrupting!]

He punched the door one more time, but it was no use, there was just too much noise inside the manor.

Cursing under his breath, he walked all the way around the house, trying to find a place where he could get in, but the place was surprisingly protected. The nearest windows were at least 8 feet up, and there was no easy access to them. There was no back door either.

After about 30min of trying to break into the place, he gave up, and just stood at the front door until Fantine opened it again.

She was obviously still mad, but she just stared at the ground as she let Prussia back in. He slowly walked in, cautious of the tension in the air.

He made his way over to Matt's room; he had a good feeling as to where he was. Elizabeth was standing silently by his door. Prussia pushed through into the bedroom, daring her with his eyes to try and stop him. Trying his best not to slam the door in her face, he shut it behind himself and went to the second room. Without hesitation he walked into it. Matt didn't even seem to notice, instead the wall was empty of photos, and he was arranging them on the floor in front of him, only this time, there were notably more photos.

Gilbert kneeled down beside him and picked up one of the photos. It was of a younger Matt curled up, smiling, against a polar bear. When he turned the picture over, there was writing that was unmistakably Britain's script. "Young Canada loved the bear he found. He named it Kumakichi" it read.

"So your bear's name is actually Kumakichi? Or is it Kumajiro?" He asked curiously.

Matt looked over, and to Gibert's surprise, he was perfectly calm, if anything, it was like nothing had happened earlier.

"That's Kumakichi" He said pointing to the bear in the picture.

"Alright then." Gilbert said, although he could've sworn the bear's name was actually Kumajiro.

"So what are you doing?" He asked, trying to get Matt to stop being so silent.

"I'm re-arranging my collage." Was all he said, "I'm adding some new photos, so I wanted to put them in, but with how I had it before, they wouldn't fit." He said, frowning.

Gilbert took advantage of the situation to learn everything he could about Matt, even though he wasn't interested in any country's history but his own, he thought maybe he would be able figure this guy out.

He picked up another picture, only this one it was a picture of both Canada and America as children, America had tears in his eyes, but was hugging his brother and yelling at Britain. When he flipped the picture, it was writing that he could only assume was France's.

"Canada est si mignon, mais quand il est triste, il envoie douleur à votre propre cœur. C'est tellement mignon la façon dont son frère lui défend toujours !" Read the delicate handwriting.

"What does this say?" Gilbert asked, he really didn't know what much French. Matt took it and read it over, smiling a little, he read it out loud.

"'Canada is so cute, but when he is sad, it sends sorrow straight to your own heart. It's so cute the way his brother always defends him!' is what it translates to" He said, looking at the picture again. "I guess Britain was being mean to me." Then to Gilberts surprise, Matt held the photo next to his face and smiled, "I was a cute kid, eh?" he said jokingly with a wink.

Gilbert was stunned for a second, but then laughed shakily, not so much at Matt, but the sheer craziness of the situation. It seemed learning about Canada's past was actually being counter-productive, and instead actually making him more in the dark on the guy.

So that's how they spent the rest of their day; arranging and rearranging photos until Matt was finally happy with it. Gilbert actually had a good time, it was surprisingly fun, just going through old pictures and joking around.

It was like they were in their own little world, now Gilbert understand why Matt retreaded here, it was as peaceful as the outdoors here, but it was like you were somewhere else entirely, away from the world and your worries.

Kumajiro- or rather… Kumakichi? Gilbert wasn't totally sure, Matt's polar bear was again the one to wake them up from their fantasy land.

"I'm hungry" came the voice from the other side of the door as they put the last picture up together.

The two of them just looked at each other and laughed.

"Well, I guess it's dinner time! What do you want to eat tonight?"

"You're asking me about dinner?", He thought about it for a second, " Well, I need awesome food that will be able to bring awesome tears to my awesome eyes." He decided.

"hmmmm" Matt wondered out loud, " well we could have poutine again, that's probably one of the only Canadian food, what do you normally eat at Germany's place?"

"Pasta, pasta, and the odd bit of wurst" Gilbert replied kind of sourly.

"Okay, well, how about I barbeque some steaks for tonight, and maybe for dessert I can take you to get a beaver tail?"

"sounds good, but beaver tails? Isn't the beaver like, your national animal?" Gilbert asked, confused.

This just made Matt laugh a bit, "It's definitely one of them!" Was all he said.

So Matt did just that, they had a great steak dinner, but this time Matt let the twins, who were silent the whole time, clean everything up.

"You ready to go?" He asked, fixing a tuque on his head, "Dress warm, it's probably going to snow again."

"Snow? It's spring!"

"Your point?"

Gilbert sighed, he hadn't even prepared so stay more than a day, and certainly not in such cold conditions. His uniform was pretty warm though, so he just decided to brave it. Matt gave him a skeptical look, but shrugged it off. So with Gilbird on his shoulder and Matt carrying Kuma- his bear, they went off.

They headed into a place called Ottawa, where there were bright lights in fountains, as well as quaint little displays. It was like a more modest New York City. So they came up to a stand, and he saw what Canada had meant by beaver tails.

The beaver tails were actually a pastry in the shape of an oval with a sweet spread on top. Canada ordered a maple one, no surprise there, and Gilbert settled on a chocolate one. He felt Gilbird shivering on his shoulder, so he gave him a bit of his beaver tail, which was really warm. He let out little pips of happiness and snuggled up closer to him. Gilbert trusted Canadian food now, it hadn't disappointed him yet, so he took a big mouthful of the stuff and was surly satisfied.

"That's it! I'm done!" He said out loud. Matthew jumped a little, startled and look at him questionably .

"Your country's food is too good." He said while taking another mouthful. Matt beamed a little and took another bite of his own, or at least tried to as the bear tried to steal some from him. It was at that moment that the snow started to fall.

"Well you aren't really dressed for the weather, so why don't we head back?" Matt suggested, and Gilbert nodded.

Matt lead the way, so Gilbert decided to take advantage of the current situation. Getting a handful of snow and molding it into a ball, he threw it at Matt's back. While Gilbert started laughing his head off at the look on Canada's face, he was almost immediately lobbed by one himself. The quick return-fire caught him slightly off guard, and in no time he was standing alone in the middle of the path. The polar bear sat on the ground eating Matt's left over beaver tail. Gilbert's battle instinct kicked in and all his senses went into hyper drive. Matt was nowhere to be found, but he knew he was close by. Gilbert tentatively reached down and made another ball.

"You want to start this?" He called, "You realize you're fighting the great Prussia!"

"I'm aware" came the answer, followed by an expert snowball throw that if Gilbert wasn't as skilled in battle as he was, would never have been able to dodge.

He looked slowly around, and then he heard a snowball break on a tree to the north, so he immediately lobbed his snowball to the south, only to get hit in the back with a second snowball.

"Clever…" He whispered. A light chuckle was all he got as an answer.

Once again, Matt and Prussia were once again locked in their own world, a secret battle. While they were fighting, eventually Matt came out of the trees, and as they were lobbing snowballs at each other, Gilbert would call out battle techniques that Matt should try, between all the taunting words that is.

Watching from a distance were Fantine and Elizabeth. The snow had started on their clothes, but they were almost entranced.

"It's like the old days, you know, when America wasn't such a big jerk" Said Elizabeth.

"Oui [yes]" Fantine replied.

And with that, the two girls went back inside.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So you guys have been absolutely awesome! I'm thankful for every read :3 I will be honest with you, the whole reason I started writing this story was because the idea came to me as I was doing (well not really ****_doing_****) my history homework, I wrote down everything I thought should happen in the story, and you've all been amazing! I'm sorry, but I have so many ideas for what's going to happen later on, this is a bit of a filler chapter that turned out to be not that much of a filler chapter. Anyways, I hope you're enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated!**

"We need you over here now brother," Germany said over the phone that night, "Italy's driving me insane, Austria's being an ass as usual, and I know I will regret saying this, but we _need_ you here!"

"Oh well little bro, don't you worry, I'm sure anybody would miss my awesome presence," He responded sending a quick glance over to Matt, who was trying to get Kumajiro to calm down after he wasn't allowed a second snack.

"Well whatever, anyways, when do you think you'll be back?" He asked, with a little hint of desperation in his voice.

"Well… I guess I could be back for tomorrow night."

Matt had heard that, and it was all he could do to stop himself from running over there and begging Gilbert not to go. He had actually slept peacefully last night.

Matt shook his head, trying to clear it a little. Kumajiro was being moody and was swatting at him. He wanted to have a second snack, but Matt was afraid that if he gave in this one time, then he would be pressured again later on by this bear.

"No means no, I'm sorry, but you're gaining weight! Soon I won't even be able to carry you!" He told the bear sternly.

After that, he had given up, and just walked away. Matt sighed, wondering what he was ever going to do about him. He looked over at his guest, who was sprawled out on the couch in a pair of Matt's slacks and a muscle shirt. He was talking freely with his brother Germany, and Matt had realized how different Gilbert talked with others compared to with him. Whenever Gilbert was with him, he just seemed, calm, never bragging about how awesome he was like he did with everybody else.

Fantine and Elizabeth were nowhere to be found when the two of them, a laughing, dripping bundle fell through the front door. In the end of the battle, Gilbert tried to call a truce, he was very cold, and Gilbird had already moved from his shoulder to in his pocket. Remembering the snowball fights he had with his brother, Matt ran up behind, and jumped on Gilbert's back. Gilbert was so surprised that he nearly fell over, but was able to steady himself in time, but to his astonishment, Matt put wrapped one cold hand around his neck and leaned his head down,

"Dead" He whispered in his ear, and then jumped off, laughing. Gilbert just stood there confused, not only at Matt's actions, but how much he had come out of his shell, but Matt's adorable laugh was too contagious to not join in.

So, when they had come back into the house, the snow on them melted, and Gilbert's clothes were soaked, so he borrowed some from Matt, and they fit nicely.

Once Gilbert was off the phone, he stretched, then yawned.

"Well Mattie, I think it's time for some shut-eye." He said.

"You're right, so you're leaving tomorrow?" Matt asked, trying desperately to keep the sadness out of his voice.

Gilbert gave him a warm look, and stood up. He put his hands on his hips and gave him a sassy smile.

"You aren't getting rid of me this quickly." He said with a wink, and internally, Matt gave a little sigh of relief.

_What's gotten into you lately?_ Matt thought to himself. He was obsessing over this guy.

"Alright." Matt said, "Well I'm going to have a few beers first if you don't mind, but if you're tired, you can go ahead."

"Waaaaa~ beer?!" Gilbert said, surprised, "Hell yes!"

Matt chuckled as they walked over to the bar, where a little mini-fridge sat

"Well, Canadian beer is a lot lighter than German beer, but I think I have some Heineken…" He mumbled, searching through it.

Prussia didn't complain, it was an interesting actually, to have a few drinks with Canada. They were both a little bit more relaxed now. Matt decided that before he left, to get to know his newfound friend a little better.

"So tell me," he said, " What's your story?"

The innocent tone of his voice made Gilbert suddenly look back a little shamefully on his past. The corner of his mouth turned down, and Matt was about to apologize, but Gilbert looked away.

"I was selfish, I still am. My Teutonic knights were all powerful though." He said then paused. Letting it all sink in. Matt had moved and sat beside Gilbert by this point.

"Growing up, I was alone in a cruel world that was unkind, so I was unkind to it. My life revolved around power, I needed more and more. It was the only way I could feel… accomplished." Gilbert was surprising himself with this, he had never even told Germany about his entire past, but it was just the look of understanding and attentiveness from Matt's beautiful blue eyes that persuaded him into continuing.

"Later, there were some more empires and countries; I met Hungary, Russia, and Lithuania. There were other names, but I can't recall them. Each day fell into a vicious routine, fighting, killing, and conquering. I was foolish, I thought I was all powerful, I even considered myself a god, who was meant to rule the entire world, but I got cocky, and I started to lose. In the end though, I would win whatever I lost back and more, it wasn't until I lost one thing I couldn't replace, that's when it all fell apart.

"I'm a broken man, Matt… I use to have a little brother, his name was Holy Rome, and as heartless I may have seemed, I loved him to death. I tried to take care of him, showed him how I thought life should be lived; wars, and glory." Gilbert started to get a little choked up, but he toughened up and pressed on. Matt was slightly confused, he thought Germany was his little brother, but he let him continue.

"He tried to follow in my footsteps y'know. He wanted to have the world in his hands, to be almighty. He did well, the little guy, but he was reckless. He tried so hard though. He wanted to capture a certain country so bad, Italy, and he set his mind to it. He came to me one day, and he was so happy. He said he had done it, he had Italy. I told him that I recognized that sparkle in his eyes, and I was finally able to get him to talk about it. He said he thought that Italy was the most beautiful girl in the world, and that every time he looked at her, he felt a longing to be close to her, and to protect her from all harm. She was talented, pretty, and kind. I don't think he ever found that his crush was actually a 'he' not a 'she', but he was so happy. Happier than I've seen him, and to be honest, happier than I think I've ever been.

"But then, his happiness and bliss was short-lived. He had to leave in order to become more powerful, and that meant leaving Italy. He begged her… or rather him to join him. He said Italy started crying, and told him that he wouldn't join Holy Rome, but not because he didn't like him. In fact it was quite the opposite. Instead, Italy told him how Rome, Italy's grandfather, had fallen, and that the life of power isn't much of a life at all. Looking back, I can agree. So they kissed good-bye, and Holy Rome swore he would return for Italy."

"He never returned did he…" Matt said sadly.

"As Holy Rome no, but he did return. Even when he was defeated for the last time, he used his final bit of strength to come to me. He begged me to watch after Italy, and swore one last time that he would be back to protect her, and a dying man's oath can be more powerful than you can imagine. When he was gone… I had no idea what to do with my life. I ran to my altar, screaming bloody murder at a God that did not care. I begged him to take my life, not my brother's, but my wish was not granted. I guessed it was my punishment for being so cruel in the past. For the longest time, I didn't know who I was anymore, what my purpose was in the world anymore. I hated this world, nobody ever loved me, nobody _cared_ about me, no one accepted the way I was, and by that point, I was dead inside, I had lost all hope. There was no more pleasure in conquering and being victorious anymore. What's the point of having power when you have nobody to stand beside you?" Matt watched painfully as Gilbert's eyes started to tear up.

"Then came my savior, Germany, and from the moment I saw him, I knew exactly who he was. He was a young little boy who had wandered over to me. I found him on my doorstep and I knew that Holy Rome had been reborn. My wish had been granted, Holy Rome died, but was given a second chance. Watching Germany grow up, I saw that he was alike Holy Rome in many ways, he still had that desire for power, but instead of letting it flourish and grow, I taught him restraint and self-discipline, qualities I don't have much of, myself. I protected him just as I had wished I had protected Holy Rome during his time of need. I made sure he became big and strong. In a way, I felt it was my second chance as well." He said, his lip curling up into a small smile.

"When I saw it, I was overjoyed. Germany had a new Ally, and his name was Italy." He said and started to laugh, a light-hearted one. Running both hands through his hair, and looking at Matt, he felt… relived. He had told Germany about Holy Rome, but nothing other than its history, never his connection with him.

"Wow, that was… amazing," Matt said, "I never realized what you had gone through." Matt paused for a second, and then added quietly, "how do you do it?"

"Hmm?" Gilbert asked, slightly confused.

"How did you keep it hidden, all this time? How can you stay so cheerful and alive, and put your past aside so you don't hurt the others around you?" He said, looking at the floor.

Matt jumped when Gilbert put an arm around his shoulders and then pulled him into a hug. He just held him there for a bit, until he felt Matt relax.

"I didn't at first," he started, quietly, "I was a miserable mess. But then I found Germany, and it was for him that I was happy again, so there was nothing to hide anymore. I had no more worries, or bad thoughts of the past, I was brought back to reality with Germany's help." He whispered, smiling when he felt Matt starting to hug him back, "All I needed was a reason to live again." He added, looking up at the ceiling.

When Matt started to pull away, Gilbert let him go. He looked kind of sad, but what Gilbert didn't see was how much what he said had affected Matt.

As they went off to bed, Gilbert was trying to think of a way, without creating an awkward situation, to ask if he could join Matt one last time before he left tomorrow.

At the same time, Matt was debating on taking the risk of sleeping that night, or just staying up all night.

When they got to Matt's bedroom door, he just looked at the ground and shyly said goodnight. Gilbert looked at him, wondering how in the world he ever had to the courage to run without a second thought into a bloody battle to the death, but he couldn't quite bring himself to saying anything at that moment, so he innocently asked in a low voice,

"Do you think you will be able to sleep alright tonight?" and he was suddenly very nervous.

Matt blushed deeply at looked into Gilbert's shining, red eyes with his clear, blue ones, and suddenly looked a little desperate.

"I-I-I…" He stammered, but was suddenly interrupted when Gilbert was against him. Elizabeth was standing behind Gilbert, pushing him into the bedroom, and in doing so, pushing Matt into it as well.

"Goddamn it you two, as long as there is no loud sex, it'll be quiet! Let us sleep!" she said happily, and with that she shut the door, closing Matt and Gilbert inside. There was some giggling outside the door, but eventually, as the redness in both of their faces went down, the giggling got quieter and eventually disappeared.

"I'm so sor-"

"Seriously, Mattie, you need to learn to stop being so sorry all the time," Gilbert said, returning to his normal, cheerful self. He took of his sweater and hopped into the rather large bed. Matt just stood there, kind of dumbfounded. Gilbert was laying in his bed in nothing but slacks and a smile, but he eventually crawled into the other side of the bed. After a while of awkward silence, Gilbert spoke up.

"It's almost...peaceful" he whispered "Two outcasts, united, but on our own..."

Matt rolled over to his opposite side so that they were facing each other and Gilbert looked over at him.

Matt just watched him curiously for a few minutes, and then slid a hand halfway between them. Without even thinking, Gilbert's own hand was there as well.

The touch of their hands made their eyes flash to each others.

Gilbert enclosed Matt's hand in his, and Matt entwined their fingers. They watched each other, suddenly fearless, ready to take on whatever life threw at them.

Gilbert watched as eventually Matt's eyes drifted closed, and his breathing evened. He, on the other hand, suddenly felt energized, and felt a sudden determination. He was going to protect Matt no matter what the cost.

The only problem was, he wasn't Germany. Germany needed protection from others, Matt, though, needed protection from himself.

Gilbert eventually drifted off, lost in thought.

As you might guess, they both slept well that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**[AN: So I attempted at German, thank you Google translator, or rather, Google in general! :3 It may not be totally correct, but I included the English translations of what it was supposed to mean so hopefully the German isn't too atrocious!]**

When Matt woke, Gilbert was still asleep. It was the first time in a long time that he had slept through the entire night peacefully, but his soft heart was soon crushed when he remembered that he would be alone again all too soon.

To distract himself, he looked down at their hands, which were miraculously still intertwined. He smiled a little and when he looked back at Gilbert, he saw how young he looked when he was asleep. He checked him out, not in a creepy way, but as if he was really seeing him for the first time. He was pretty well sculpted, and his skin was pale. He wore a necklace with a cross, most likely from his days as the Teutonic knights. It pained him to think of how much older Gilbert was compared to him.

_He's an albino_, Matt suddenly realized; the pale skin, white hair and red eyes made sense to him now.

He actually looked quite adorable, Matt thought. He had one hand under his head, and he looked so calm and carefree, like there was nothing in life that would worry him. Behind him was the window, which showed that the sun was just starting to rise. Matt's heart swelled with pride, this was his land's beautiful sunrise. Just as the sky was starting to fill with the bright colours of the rising sun, he noticed that Gilbert's sleepy red eyes were watching him. Bringing his attention back to the man in his bed, they just watched each other. Gilbert's normally bright red eyes were soft and entrancing.

"Good morning," Matt said quietly. Gilbert gave him a smug, yet happy look.

"Guten morgen [Good morning]" he whispered back. Matt gave him a small, shy smile. Gilbert's mouth curled into a half smile (one that was quite attractive on him, Matt admitted to himself).

The only thing that could and did break their beautiful moment was Kumajiro

"I'm hungry, feed me!" he whined.

"Die tour vermasseln…[cockblock]"Gilbert said jokingly under his breath.

Matt gave him a strange look,

"You realize that I know German right?

"Do you, now? How's that?"

"Please, my country's so multicultural I'm practically fluent in every language" He said proudly. Gilbert just gave him that half smile again, nearly making Matt's heart skip a beat.

"Tourtereaux! Petit Déjeuner! [Lovebirds ! Breakfast !]" Fantine called upstairs.

"What did she say?"He asked, and Matt blushed a light shade of red.

"She's calling us for breakfast." He said, leaving out the first part, and with that he got up, out of bed. He took off the shirt he was wearing and was about to put on a different, lighter one when suddenly Gilbert was behind him. He could feel the tension radiating off of him. Then he felt a cool hand trace a jagged, upraised scar on his back, sending shivers through him.

"What the hell is this?" Gilbert said in a voice so restrained that it was barely audible.

"I-I was clumsy as a child." Matt stammered.

"Kids don't fall on swords" Gilbert said wickedly, in a tone that scared Matt.

"Oh, the scar? It's not that serious, It was just a little slip, that's all-" Gilbert spun him, hands on his bare shoulders, staring into his eyes. Matt felt suddenly trapped, like prey looking into the eyes of a predator that held them in their grasp.

"Don't lie to me," Gilbert nearly hissed, "_who did this to you?_" Once he said that, he saw the shield go up through Matt's eyes and the terror disappear. Matt looked at him evenly, and took as step away from him, leaving Gilbert's arms to fall to his sides.

"I- we were young and reckless, it's over and doesn't matter anymore." Matt said sternly, and nearly threw the shirt over his head. He wanted to storm out, but then he saw how rude he was being. Gilbert caught the change in facial expression and held up a hand when Matt started to open his mouth again.

"Don't you dare apologize again for something you never did, again." He said, calm again, although in the recesses of his mind, there was a voice screaming at him to find out who hurt Matt.

Matt just looked at the ground, and his eyes started watering, but he kept the tears back. Gilbert rushed up to him, taking his two hands in his,

"I'm the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn't have snapped like that, I… I just can't stand the thought of somebody ever hurting you…" He started mumbling.

"It's alright. How about we get some breakfast now, eh?" he responded, trying to avoid a solemn mood that morning.

So, through pancakes and maple syrup, they were cheerful again. They sat in the main room, but Gilbert knew that if he were to make it to Germany's place by that night, he would have to leave very soon.

He cleaned himself up, and put on his clothes, one of the twins must've washed it. As he was coming out of the washroom, he saw Fantine standing there.

"I know I'm irresistible, but waiting for me is unnecessary." He said.

"I-I just want to say, thank you, for everything" She mumbled and nearly ran off. Gilbert was left there, scratching his head.

He walked back to the main room where Matt was sittingcross-legged in the centre of the room, trying to smooth a little wisp of hair on Kumajiro's head, who complained to no end.

Gilbert plopped down beside him, one arm resting on his knee.

"Who are you?"the bear asked Matt again. He just sighed,

"I'm Canada!"

"Yeah," Gilbert said, tugging a little on Matt's stray curl, "See this? This is how you can tell who your owner."

Matt let out a strange noise and looked at Gilbert with a look of almost pure terror. He curled himself into a ball, his face red, and patted the curl back into his hair.

"P-p-please, d-don't touch that…" He said, looking away.

Gilbert was very confused at this point.

"OH SNAP SIS!" he heard Elizabeth called into the other room, "HE TOUCHED MATT'S CURL!"

"NO!" Came Fantine's reply.

"YES!"

"GOD!"

"YESS!"

This was followed by a couple squeals of joy and laughter..

"What the hell?"

Matt's face went a deep shade of red, and, as Gilbert noticed, his eyes darkened a little, to an almost purple shade.

"Don't mind those two, how about we go get some fresh air or something?" He said, looking desperately at Gilbert, praying he wouldn't ask further.

Gilbert nodded and they headed out, Gilbird flying above them and Kumajiro in Matt's arms.

As they walked out through the paths, Gilbert stopped them in a small clearing.

"Before I leave, can I at least have answers?" He asked innocently.

Matt just looked at him, his eyes darkening again.

"W-what do you want to know?" He replied, just as innocently.

"To be honest, everything, at least about you… but can I at least get 3?"

"Umm, well, it depends…" He said nervously, trying to look as calm as possible.

"Well question Nummer eins [number one], what's with the hair?"

Matt's eyes widened and his face went really red. He tried to hide his face behind Kumajiro's head, but Gilbert walked up, and took the polar bear, and set him on the ground.

"It's embarrassing…"

"You can tell me," Gilbert said quietly, approaching Matt again, only this time, he was in try-hard mode, there was no way he was going to pass this opportunity to get a few steps closer to knowing everything he could about Matt. Putting on his signature half-smile, he leaned close to him, "You can trust me."

"I-I-I trust you, it's just…"

"Just what, Mattie?" He said with a low voice. Matt just closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"With Britian, it's his eyebrows, or so I've heard. America has it too… " He started talking quickly, like he wasn't giving himself a chance to stop talking, "Italy's got it too, his curl, and so does his brother Romano"

"Ohhhhh…" He said, eyes widening, remembering that one traumatic experience Germany had when he pulled Italy's hair, "Well in that case, I'm terribly sorry" He said as genuinely as he could. Matt just looked away, blushing again. He didn't realize that he had such an effect over Matt, getting him to share this sort of stuff.

"It's okay, y-you didn't know…"

"I'm not promising I won't pull it again though" He said with a grin. Matt's eyes widened, and he blushed even more.

"So now I have a question for you." Matt said, trying to gain confidence after his embarrassing confession.

Gilbert gestured down at himself, "Ask away."

"Well…what would you do if you lost Gilbird?" he asked softly, but the question seemed like a blow to Gilbert.

"Gilbird have been inseparable since time began, it's like we've become a single person. If I lost him… it would be like losing half a heart…Nobody can live with just half a heart." He said kind of sternly.

Matt just nodded, and his eyes went dark again. He looked over at his bear, and sighed.

"So how did you end up with your bear in the first place?" Gilbert countered.

Matt looked at him with sad eyes, "Kumajiro or Kumakichi?"

"Wait, there were both?"

"…yeah"

"Well that explains a lot." Gilbert realized, "how about both?"

"That'll be your last two questions."

"Okay, how about Kuma…kichi?"

"My memories only go back so far, but I was here long before where my memory starts. According to Britain, when we were little and they had just come to the New World, they thought Alfred and I were the same child, so they treated us as such. One time, they saw the two of us near each other, Alfred was watching an eagle and I was approaching a polar bear. They didn't know who to run after and save first, the little boy who would potentially have his faced ripped off by a vicious bird - their wording, not mine - or the other one who would potentially be mauled by a nursing polar bear.

"Naturally, England went to Alfred first, and France came to my rescue, but in the end, neither of us needed rescuing at all. Alfred had already made friends with the eagle, and I was terribly cold, so the mother polar bear let be cuddle up with her pup, whose name was Kumakichi. After that, Kumakichi and I were nearly inseparable, that is, until… until… one day, he just wasn't there." He bowed his head, but his eyes were dry.

"That must've been terrible…" Gilbert responded after a while.

"I'm over it, it was so long ago, I barely remember. I just get Kumajiro and Kumakichi mixed up sometimes." He said, then thought for a second .

" So, what' it like living with Germany?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"It's a blessing and a curse at the same time. Germany himself is so military-strict, but he never lets himself have fun. He won't tolerate practically anything, it's a wonder how he can put up with Italy, but I think it's just a part of him that's trying to recognize him. I believe that he secretly feels like he should know Italy, but still can't figure out why.

"Then there is the people he lives with, Austria, Italy, and Japan. Japan isn't so bad, but he needs to learn to lighten up sometimes. Italy will always be Italy, and Austria will always be an ass."

"Sounds… nice" Matt said.

"Really? It can be hell sometimes." He said jokingly.

They spent the next little while just asking each other small questions, totally forgetting the count. When Matt asked Gilbert what his favourite colour was, he immediately said a shade of blue-purple.

"Like indigo?" Matt asked.

"Kind of, yeah," Gilbert wasn't sure what compelled him to say that, his favourite colour was actually red, but it was just that after looking into Matt's eyes for so long, he would never be able to forget their amazing colour.

"My final question though, I think you know what I want to find out." He said afterwards.

"… the scar?" Matt's reply was no more than a whisper.

"Yeah"

"Maybe next time, but not now, please, not now" He said. He looked really sad. He wanted this moment to remain a happy one. Just recalling what happened in his mind gave the look of such sorrow and desperation that Gilbert wanted to go over there and wrap him in a comforting embrace.

Which he did.

"Alright, but I will hold you to your word." He whispered in his hair as Matt returned the embrace, burying his face in Gilbert's shoulder.

"Okay" was all he said, and as they pulled apart, Gilbert felt compelled to do something really outrageous. As Matt watched him curiously, he lifted his precious necklace over his own head, and walked behind Matt who was frozen with shock. Although he never thought he would have to part with it, he just felt, amazing inside as he placed it on Matt. He considered this a token of protection, and even when he himself couldn't be there; he wanted Matt to at least feel safe. Matt reached up and touched the necklace with surprise.

"Gilbert…" Was all he managed to say, and when he looked up again, he had come back around him and was standing so close he could feel the warmth radiating from his body.

Using the back of his hand, he gently stroked Matt's cheek, which sent shocks straight to both of their hearts.

"Matt… while I'm gone, I want you to know that I will always protect you, you have nothing to fear anymore," Gilbert said very seriously, "I want you to count on me, I'm just a phone call away." Matt's hand reached up and covered Gilbert's, and rested his cheek against it. His eyes now a deep purple that Gilbert could get lost in. Matt was about to speak when suddenly Gilbert was on him.

With arm wrapped around him back, the other still cradling his face, Gilbert couldn't restrain himself anymore, and in a split second, he brought their lips together. Matt's shock was very short lived, and before he knew it, Matt's hands were in his hair, trying to bring him closer.

Through all the passion and fever of their embrace, they didn't even notice the time slip by, and way too soon, it was beyond the time for Gilbert to leave.

The two had never seen the other in such a state, hair wild, eyes sparkling and a new smile that touched both of their faces. The sun was high in the sky and they rested their foreheads together, just looking into each other's eyes, feeling infinite.

Both of them wished they could stay like this for the rest of their lives, a perfect eternity would wait ahead of them, but unfortunately, time doesn't care, it just keeps moving forward, no matter how much you beg it to slow down.

It was a sad good-bye, even the twins got a little tearful. Matt had given Gilbert a massive bottle of maple syrup to take with him back to Europe.

Standing at the doorstep, they said their good-byes, and wondered out loud when they were ever going to see each other again.

As Gilbert started to leave, Matt couldn't bear watching him go.

Without thinking, he ran after him and from behind him, gave one last hug.

"Return to me soon" he said. Gilbert turned and gave him that half smile again. He put one hand on the side of his face, and surprised Matt with a small farewell kiss. Fantine and Elizabeth stood in the doorway grinning from ear to ear. When the two broke apart, Gilbert whispered in his ear,

"As soon as I possibly can" He said, and with that, he was gone.

Walking back to the house, he took one last look over his shoulder, and saw the figure of a great nation walking with as much dignity as any king, with a bird flying beside him.

What Matt didn't see was the teardrop that was rolling down Gilbert's cheek as he walked away from it all.


	7. Chapter 7

**[A/N: Sorry about not updating guys! I feel really bad about it but I have a lot of school stuff I had to finish, so I was able to sneak this chapter in. Hopefully you enjoy it, although it is a bit of a filler chapter. I have so many ideas for later on in the story, but I don't want to introduce them just yet . Anyways, sorry, I'll let you read now. A favourite, follow or a review would be greatly appreciated!]**

"Soooooooooo?" Elizabeth said. She was beaming, and so was Fantine.

"Hmm?" Matt asked, brought back to reality. His head was still in the clouds.

"Soeur! Regarde!" Fantine giggled, pointing at Matt.

"I know, I see it too!"

"What?" Matt asked suddenly self-conscious. The twins just ran up and gave him a big hug, snuggling into his chest delightfully.

"Mattie's got his sparkle back! Mattie's got his sparkle back!" They cheered, then they simultaneously kissed both of Matt's cheeks, then returned to snuggling either side of him. He felt his face heat up, but he warmly welcomed the positive embrace.

_It's been so long since I've seen them like this, _Matt thought, _Maybe I should try to be a better actor from now on, I guess they saw through me, but maybe with Gilbert here, I won't have to pretend from now on…_

The twins then let go of him, smiling. They were overjoyed to see the liveliness back in his eyes.

"I hate to ruin the good mood, but there was a notice, there's another world meeting next Friday, something important."

"Alright, I'll mark it down," He told Elizabeth, taking off his coat. He noticed that there was something in his back pocket that he was sure wasn't there before, when he pulled it out, it was a piece of paper, marked with his name on it. He shoved it back into his pocket and walked up to his room.

He marked the day on his calendar and was about to read the note when he saw a little box sitting on his bed.

Curiously, he picked it up, read the label and felt his face get really red.

"GIRLS!" He called down, and all he got as a response was some hysterical laughter.

"Qui sait ce que ce type a! Nous ne voulons pas que tu attrapes quelque chose!" Fantine called up.

_Who knows what he has ? We don't want you to…catch anything ? _Matt translated, horrified.

"What the hell you two, you're both ridiculous. I don't even think countries can get STD's, but STILL! Please, stop doing things like this, it's embarrassing!"

"Whatever you say Mattie-moo!"

Matthew just rolled his eyes and threw the box of condoms into one of his drawers.

Hopping into his bed, he took the letter out and started reading it.

* * *

_To Matt_

_I'm sure you will miss me while I'm gone, I just want you to know that somebody as awesome as me would never abandon you. Please remember that, I know how many times you've been lonely in your life, and I hope you realize that you have me now. If you ever need me, just call my cell, I'll be right there. _

_So you'll have to be without my awesomeness for a while, but hopefully that isn't too hard for you. Try to get some sleep while I'm gone, okay? Try and sleep with my necklace on, hopefully it will keep the nightmares away._

_I'll get Ludwig to sneak me into the next world meeting, so I'll see you then. Hopefully I will be able to make arrangements to come and visit you again!_

_Don't fret, Prußen will be back for you soon. _

* * *

Matt smiled, feeling truly happy.

He wondered how the hell Gilbert had managed to get that in his pocket. He remembered the kiss, blushing slightly at the thought.

It was like pure bliss, just to be held, and knew that you were wanted.

_Oh yeah..._ He thought, remembering when Gilbert slid his hand down... there. Matt just blushed a little more.

He gently folded the note and set it on his bedside table. Twisting sideways to do so sent shocks up his spine, knocking the breath out of him and bringing tears to his eyes. The pain was horrible, and he cursed at his stupidity. He'd had this pain for a few hundred years, yet he often forgot that moving at all caused him awful pain.

He blinked as the pain receded back to it's normal state of aching. He let out a few breaths. He felt bad about lying to Prussia about why he always held Kumajirou, but he just couldn't face telling him the truth, and he had the perfect opportunity to slip a little believable lie.

_Well, it isn't totally a lie_ He thought, because Kumakichi actually had that happen to him, but he had rarely ever carried his polar bear. It was only when he got his back pains that he started doing it. Kumajirou was heavy, but was easily annoyed and complained at the slight discomfort, so if he started trembling or shaking too bad, Kuma would make sure he knew all about it. It was hard to carry him around everywhere, but it was the best way of not only hiding the shaking, but to keep it on the down-low.

When he felt he could walk again, he got up slowly, trying unsuccessfully not to jolt his back. He stood up and walked around a bit, biting so hard on his lip that it started to bleed. He looked in the mirror and practiced walking normally again.

_You only have to make it to the washroom, you can pass for taking some painkillers. You've been able to stay off of them for a few months. _

He was scared he was going to get used to all the painkillers he was taking previously, so he went for as long as he could without them, but he'd always end up coming back to him. He'd tried a bunch of things to make it stop hurting, including smoking pot, but Britain caught him doing that, and it didn't turn out very well.

He couldn't let anybody know about this pain.

Nobody.

So he smiled cheerfully in the mirror, testing it out, making sure it was believable. When he was satisfied, he walked normally, out of his room, past the twins into the washroom. Once he locked the door behind him, he nearly fell onto the floor. It took all of his strength to reach up and take the painkillers out of the cabinet and swallow them.

He turned the shower on, but he knew that there was no way he would be able to shower in his condition, he just needed an excuse to stay there for a little while longer. Not wanting to fog up the whole room, he set it to just cold water.

He sat on the floor, waiting in agony for the medication to take effect. He had hid all his pills that he had secretly gotten from his doctor in a bottle of advil. Both of the sisters were allergic to Ibuprofen, so they would never touch it.

First he felt the drowsiness start to settle, then he felt the pain dull. He let out a sigh of relief and stood up. He decided that he should actually take a shower so he got in, not even realizing that the water was still set to cold. He quickly washed up, then dried himself off.

Once he put his slacks back on, he looked in the mirror, the strong make-up he was wearing had washed off. There were all sorts of scars on his back and chest that Gilbert didn't see. The big one on his back was hard to conceal completely, but the others weren't too hard to cover. He looked at each one in turn, all except from the one that ran from his right shoulder to his hip, and remembered where he had got them. Some were from him being too reckless, others were from World War 1 and 2. He looked at the small jagged line under his collar bone. He chuckled quietly.

"I doubt anybody actually knows I had a civil war," he whispered to himself, lightly tracing it, "Well, it did only last an afternoon."

**[A/N: I'm not kidding, Canada had a civil war, it was really more of a rebellion, but still! It was in 1837 if you want to look it up]**

He reapplied the makeup, he kept it hidden in a shaving kit. He used it on each of the scars, trying his best to hide them all, then used some under his eyes to make the look of sleepiness disappear.

He left the washroom, smiling brightly at the twins.

_He's smiling so warmly, I'm so happy for him._ Elizabeth thought, smiling back.

* * *

"Prussia's back!" Feliciano cheered, giving his best friend's brother a big hug. Gilbert smiled at the cute Italian and rustled his hair.

"Welcome home Gilbert." Ludwig said, smiling a little.

"Did ya miss me?"

"I did!" Feliciano said.

"Of course brother" Ludwig joked, and together they went inside. "How's Gilbird?"

"Canada fixed him right up!"

"Ve? I thought you went to America's."

"You guys are ridiculous, Canada is nothing like America, they barely even look alike. Anyways, when's the next world meeting?" Prussia said.

"Why do you care? You want to propose an idea? I don't think they will be too thrilled at bringing your nation back again..." Ludwig asked, surprised at his brother's sudden interest in world matters.

"Well, maybe, but if I were, I can assure you I wouldn't ask them for _permission_ first. I would take it with my sheer awesomeness. As a matter of fact, I want to see my friend again."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow at his brother, wondering what this Canada guy had done to him.

"Ve~ Gilbert made a friend! That's so sweet! If Gilbert likes Canada, then I think I will like him too!"

"I think you would like him Feliciano, especially his food, it suits my awesomeness. Oh, speaking of," He said, pulling out the piece of paper that Fantine gave him, "Feli, do you think you could help me make this?"

"Poutine? Ve~?" Feliciano said, reading over it, trying to pronounce the french word with his italian accent.

"Pooh-teen," Gilbert corrected, "It's really good!"

"Ve, okay, I will help"

Gilbert nodded, then walked to the phone, writing Matt's phone number on Germany's list of numbers.

"111-1111?" Germany asked incredulously, thinking his brother had lost his mind.

"It's Canada's number."

"Ernsthaft?"

_Seriously?_

"I'm not kidding, he said he got such an easy number to remember because Alfred and Arthur kept forgetting it, but I guess it didn't work."

Ludwig just nodded his head, and then walked off towards his study.

So Feliciano and Gilbert worked feverishly in the kitchen, trying to follow the recipe exactly as it was written , which was kind of hard since Fantine's english writing wasn't perfect.

"Ve~ This reminds me of when Fratello France was learning how to write in english." Italy noted.

"Well Fantine, or rather French-Canada wrote this up for me, so that might be why."

"French Canada?"

"Well Canada has two sisters, English-Canada and French-Canada"

"Is there an Italian-Canada?" He asked excitedly.

"Maybe!" Gilbert encouraged.

"Ve~!"

When the poutine was done, Gilbert looked at it skeptically, then took a fry and tried it, after chewing a little he smiled. It was better than he expected.

Feliciano took one as well and his eyes brightened up.

"This is Canada's food?" He asked.

"Yeah, and this is too!" Gilbert replied, grabbing the bottle of maple syrup from the counter.

"Syrup?" Feli asked, confused.

"Try a bit!" He said, putting some on a spoon.

Feliciano put the spoon in his mouth, tasted the syrup, and got this massive grin.

"Germany! Germany!" He called running into his study with the bottle, "Germany! You have to try this Canadian syrup!"

Ludwig looked up from his paperwork, and gave the bottle a curious look. Gilbert poured another spoonful and coaxed his brother to take it. Ludwig breathed a sigh of defeat, and finally took it. He smirked a little and handed it back to his brother.

"It's sweet, but it's pretty good." He said, and returned to his work.

"Yay! Germany liked it!" Feliciano cheered.

As they all sat down to eat, Gilbert caught Ludwig about to mash up all the fries in the true German style.

"Don't you dare!" Gilbert said sternly. Ludwig sighed, but reluctantly ate the poutine as fries.

They all enjoyed it, so Gilbert decided it would be a good time to call Matt.

There was a few rings before Elizabeth answered.

"Hey you" She said, surprising Gilbert with how casual she sounded.

"Hey, is Matt there?"

"Ummmmmmmm... give me a sec, he's in his room right now, hopefully not in _that_ room, but I'll see what I can do." She said, "Call you back in a sec."

Gilbert heard the click of the receiver and suddenly felt really worried. What if Matt was in his room?

_What if you were the one that put him in there this time? _

Gilbert clung to the phone waiting for the call back.

_What's with him?_ Ludwig wondered, seeing his brother's worried expression.

* * *

Matt decided to return to his room, he really didn't feel like going outside today. He didn't really feel like doing anything, and the medication he had taken made him really sleepy.

_Well, I guess I can make a few adjustments to my other room... _He thought, wanting to rest his back. So he took off his key necklace and unlocked it. Walking inside, he wondered if Gilbert had seen it.

Under the couch was a box.

Matt hated opening that box, but he wanted to put Gilbert's note in there.

He braced himself, taking a deep breath, then sat on the floor, pulling the box out.

Inside were a bunch of papers, some were old, some were new.

He took out one of the oldest looking ones, testing his courage. Looking the writing, it was written by him probably when he was just a child.

_Dear England, _It read.

_Why don't you love me like you love Alfred?  
Did I do something wrong?  
I'm sorry!  
I hope I didn't dissapoint you, if I did, I'm so sorry.  
Am I not good enough?  
__Do you not want me as your little brother?  
__Is it because I'm not as brave as Alfred, or as strong?  
__I'll try harder, I promise.  
__Just please, please, at least let me know what I have to do for you to love me.  
-Matthew_

Matt just looked at the tear-stained paper. The box was full of letters he never sent to people he loved like Alfred and Arthur.

_This was a bad idea, I don't want to put this happy note in with all these sad ones..._

He started to panic, shoving the paper back in the box and closing it up. He felt the tears start to come back.

The loneliness.

The despair.

The feeling that he'd never really be wanted.

Shaking his head, he wiped the tears from his cheeks. He curled up his knees to his chest, but immediately regretted doing so. Bending his back hurt to much, even with the help of the medication.

Gasping, he just let himself fall sideways. He laid on the floor, panting a bit. He clenched his teeth and sat back up again.

"Idiot" He murmured to himself.

He tried multiple times to stand up again, but with no such luck. He gave a sigh of defeat and just pulled himself, painfully, onto the couch.

That's when he heard the phone ring. Startling him, and jolting his back again.

"Dammit" He said and stood up, practically running out of the room, ignoring the pain.

A lot of harsh words quietly flowed out of his mouth as he locked the door and straightened his back, trying to walk around normally again. When he wasn't jerking around anymore, he checked the mirror, making sure he hadn't accidentally wiped any of the makeup off. He still looked like he was awake, which was good.

He listened for Elizabeth's voice on the phone, but there was only silence.

Then there was a light knock on his door.

"Come in!" Matt said with as much cheer as he could.

"Oh, hey Matt. I was just called looking for you. Gilbert just called, would you mind calling him back? I told him you were in your room." She told him, relieved that she didn't find him in the back room. She handed him the portable phone and left, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Matt laid down on his bed, keeping his back straight in order to not make any sudden moves while talking to Gilbert.

Redialing the number, the phone picked up halfway through the first ring.

"Hello?" Came Gilbert's familiar voice. Matt smiled a bit at just hearing the anxiousness in his voice.

_He must've been worried._

"Hey Gilbert, what's up?"

"Oh, Matt? When Elizabeth said you were in your room I thought..." He said, his voice drifting away.

"Oh no, I was just uh," Matt struggled to think of something to say he was doing, "tidying my room a bit." More half-truths.

"Liar." Came Gilbert's response.

"What do you mean? It's what I was doing."

"No you weren't, I can tell by your voice, what's wrong? You were in there, weren't you?"

"Maybe..." Matt said, giving in a little.

"Why? Were you-"

"I was just... I was just putting a few things in there, there wasn't really anywhere I could put them in my room." That time it was the truth, if Gilbert misinterprets it, it's not Matt's fault.

"Alright, I'll trust you this time. So what have you been up to today?"

"Well a certain somebody left for Germany this morning, then I helped out around the house." He replied jokingly.

"Well hopefully you aren't missing my awesomeness too much. Anyways, Feli and Ludwig both love the poutine and maple syrup. You'll have to come over here once for a few beers." He said.

Although Ludwig's intimidation was kind of unnerving, Matt felt safe with Gilbert.

"That sounds nice." He admitted.

"Alright, it's a deal then." Matt could hear the smile in Gilbert's voice.

So they talked for a while, pretty much about nothing at all, but that didn't matter, they were talking to each other, that's all they really needed.

"So did you get my note?" Gilbert said with a light tone.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I did" Matt said, trying to imitate Gilbert's positive attitude.

"That's good, and I trust that you believe what I wrote?"

"I do," Matt said quietly.

"...Do you think you'll be okay sleep-wise tonight?" He added just as quietly.

"I.. think so" He said, and tried to bring back the happy tone.

"I hate to say this, Matthew but I have to go, so I guess I'll see you at the world meeting."

"Oh, okay." and with that, the phone hung up.

Matt let out a little sigh, it was getting late now, and he was feeling tired.

As sleep started to drag him under, he immediately got out of bed, despite the pain.

His night terrors were bringing misery to Fantine and Elizabeth, and he was sure that if he fell asleep, they would only come back.

If he didn't need to, he wouldn't sleep. He wouldn't let anybody worry about him.

* * *

"Buongiorno!" Came a happy voice.

Matt turned around to see Italy and Germany walking up behind him.

"Oh, good morning Italy, good morning Germany." He said back to them, smiling.

Everybody was in their suits and ties, the world meeting was today.

"It's Canada, right?" Germany said.

Matt looked at him, surprised.

"Uh, yeah, I am." He said, happy that somebody finally recognized him, "But please, call the Matthew."

"Ve~ He's cute! Just like Gilbert said!"

Matt felt his face heat up. Italy came up to him and hugged him. He just kind of stood there a little awkwardly.

"My name's Feliciano. Also, is there an Italian-Canada?" He asked suddenly.

"You mean like there's an English-Canada and French-Canada? Actually, there is. We have one representative of each country that lives in my place. That's the beauty of being multicultural, once there is a percent of the Canadian population from a nationality, then there is a representative for the. Fantine and Elizabeth live at my place, but I believe I've met Italian-Canada, her name is Isabella. There's a Germany-Canada too, his name is Gustav."

"That's amazing!" Feliciano said, squeezing Matt a little too tightly, causing him to gasp, "Oh no, Matthew, why are you shaking like that?" Feliciano said, worried.

"Oh it's nothing, don't worry about it." Matt said, expertly masking the pain, and sounding cheerful again.

Feliciano looked at him, but then let it go.

By then, it was time to go into the boardroom. Matt hadn't seen Gilbert anywhere, and that made his heart sink.

Today, he was sitting between Britain and America, probably one of the worst spots to be, but he didn't care. He was able to be invisible to everyone, so it didn't matter anyways.

"Alright guys! So about the whole issue on..." Alfred started. Matt actually envied how everybody seemed to be able to hear and see his brother, it was just the way Alfie was, Matt on the other hand, nobody noticed. Holding Kumajirou, he sat and listened to what ridiculous things America was saying.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his thigh, nearly jumping out of his seat, he looked under the table to see a pair of laughing red eyes.

"Gilbert!" Matt said quietly, both surprised and happy.

"Hey Birdie, did you miss me?"

Matt motioned for him to wait a bit.

Sitting up straight, he pulled out one of his hairs, and curled it.

He stuck it on Kumajirou's head to match his own curl.

"What are you doing?" The bear complained.

"Can you pretend to be me for a little bit?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Canada" He sighed. He removed his tie and glass and dressed up the bear.

Once he was satisfied at how Kumajirou looked, he chuckled at how ridiculous this plan was, but it wasn't like anybody would notice him missing. He slipped under the table, as gently as he could so he wouldn't tip off Gilbert as to how much his back was hurting today.

He sat with his back against the legs of the chair, Kumajirou weighed enough that he could lean against it without it slipping away.

Before he could think, Gilbert was on all fours over him, kissing him. The action was so sudden that Matt froze for a second.

Gilbert smiled against his lips and pulled away slightly,

"How's my little Mattie-bird been doing?" He asked in a voice that made Matt's heart speed up. He was still a little too stunned to reply. He had only known this guy for a few days and he was being so forward.

"Good" He finally manage to reply, but his voice was too high, he cleared his throat and tried again, "I'm good, how about you?"

"I've been lonely." He said sadly, "but it's all better now."

Smiling, he rested on hand on Matt's cheek, pleased when Matt immediately leaned into his hand. Gilbert leaned forward and first gave him a kiss on the forehead then on each cheek. Finally, he stopped, his lips hovering a hair's width away from Matt's, teasing him.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, but this time, Matt closed the distance between them. Gilbert's smile widened when Matt was the one kissing _him_ instead of the other way around. Gilbert moved his hands into Matt's hair. It was silky to the touch, much like Francis' was.

Gilbert started pulling away, but Matt automatically followed him. He laughed and instead deepened their kiss.

Suddenly they heard Arthur start to pipe up.

Matt broke away this time, a little sparkle in his eyes.

"Now listen, Arthur has gotten louder, so Alfred will get louder too. Then Francis will join in."

Not two seconds after Matt made his prediction, Francis' voice was heard above the others.

"This will continue for a bit, Ita-Feliciano," He corrected himself, "will complain to Germany about being hungry or bored, then Japan will takes sides with Alfred. Ivan and Wang Yao will make it very clear that they won't listen to anything anybody else says. Once it starts to get out of hand, your brother will get mad, and shout at everybody. Then it will all calm down, and nothing will get done."

"You must know a lot about these meetings." Gilbert said as he heard Feli start complaining to Ludwig.

"It's the same thing every time. I wonder why I even bother to come here." Matt sighed.

They continued their kiss, but this time it was slower and more passionate than their previous fever.

Suddenly, The table shook. Germany started yelling at everybody. Matt jumped, then winced as shocks went through his spine. Gilbert shook his head,

"He's going to give himself high blood pressure after all of this." He mumbled in a concerned tone.

All Matt could do is nod, afraid to make a noise or move his back for fear he might cry out. By the time peace was restored to the room, Matt felt well enough to move again.

"The meeting will be over soon, so I'm going to return to my seat, I'll see you afterwards." He said with a smile, but he was felt reluctant to leave Gilbert. Gilbert nodded and crawled off of him. Matt tried his best to get back on his seat without showing any evidence of excruciating pain, but he managed to do it without making Gilbert suspicious. He put Kumajirou on his lap, who immediately started complaining about how badly he was shaking.

Matt just shushed him and put his tie and glasses back on.

Not too long afterwards, the people sitting at the table dispatched. Matt stood up, trying to stretch a little, and waited for everybody else to leave the room. Gilbert crawled out from under the table.

Walking towards Matt with that amazing half-smile, he grabbed Matt's tie and pulled him into one more quick kiss.

Feliciano, who was peeking through the door, looking for Matt and Gilbert saw the whole thing and giggled, closing the door. He looked over at Ludwig, who raised his eyebrow.

"Well? Are they coming?"

"Ve~ Give them a sec!" Feliciano started giggling more.

Matt walked out first, followed by Gilbert. Feliciano kept on giggling, and Ludwig gave him an impatient look.

Matt at this point, felt... good. Great even, despite the effort it took to pretend like everything was okay, he actually felt happy for the first time in a while.

"Hey! Canada!" Came a familiar voice from behind them.

Leaning on the wall was Belgium and the Netherlands. They were waving at the now visible Canada.

"One second please guys" He told Feliciano, Ludwig and Prussia, "Hello Netherlands, Hello Belgium, what was your day?"

"It was very nice!" Belgium said in her cheery voice. He felt bad that he could never remember their names, they just referred to each other by their country names.

Netherlands held out three tulips to him, one was yellow, one was red, and the other was purple.

"They've already started blooming," He said happily, "I got some of the first three for you, Fantine and Elizabeth. I'll send the rest over shortly"

"They're beautiful, thank you." Matt said, and turned to go back to Gilbert, "Have a great day, eh?" He called over his shoulder.

Gilbert eyed the flowers, suddenly feeling a pang of jealousy.

_Why the hell did Netherlands just give Matt flowers?  
_

He asked the thought out loud and Matt laughed lightly.

"Temporarily declare a maternity ward in Canada Dutch territory, and they are forever grateful." He said, smiling at the tulips, "You should come see our tulip festival."

"Fratello Francis took me there one year! There were so many pretty flowers!" Feliciano piped up.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Matt said pleasantly. Gilbert watched him curiously, it was as if as Matt was... solidifying before him. He wasn't as invisible anymore.

Interrupting his thoughts, Alfred came up out of nowhere and casually put his arm around his brother's shoulder. With the two side-by-side, it was obvious how people got them confused.

"Hey little bro! Were you even at the meeting? I didn't see you!"

"Abruti," He mumbled in french, then sighed, " I was sitting right beside you."

"really?! You're kidding right? I thought I was sitting beside Eyebrows!"

Before he could reply, Ivan stood behind him and put his hands on his shoulders. Matt seemed totally unfazed, but Alfred jumped away in fear.

"Добрый день Иван!" _Good day Ivan, _Matt said in Russian, much to Feliciano's and Ludwig's surprise.

_This guy knows Russian?_ Ludwig wondered. Even he was a little intimidated by Ivan, and Feli was hiding behind him, but Matt just smiled and turned around.

"Good afternoon Matvey, I was wondering. When are you wanting to play hockey again?"

"Are you still upset after your last three losses?" Matt said jokingly, despite the dark look that flashed through Ivan's eyes.

_This guy is definitely insane._ Ludwig concluded, seeing Matt tease Ivan about losing.

"So when will the rematch be?"

"Well, the snow's all melting in the south, but it's still very frozen up north. We can have it at your place or mine."

"I'd prefer it at mine,"

"Tsk, you really should realize that General Winter can't help you out, not only in hockey, but I'm Canada! My winters are just as bad as yours."

Ivan just smiled pleasantly, "Then next week?"

"Sounds like a plan."

And with that, Ivan left, leaving Matt alone with the group.

Feliciano, Ludwig and Gilbert just stared at him.

"What?"

"Y-you just made plans, to _willingly _go to Ivan's house for a game of hockey." Feliciano said with disbelief. _  
_

"So? We do it all the time. Hockey and Lacrosse are my national sports. I'm just glad I'm not playing Lacrosse with him, that might turn out to be deadly," He joked.

"I think your new friend has a death wish." Ludwig told Gilbert, but Gilbert just smiled.

"Kick his ass, Birdie. I wanna see his face when he gets destroyed." He said wickedly.

"I'll certainly try!"

"I've never really seen you play hockey," Feli spoke up, "But isn't Alfred pretty good at it too."

Matt just gave him a patient look.

"Feliciano, a large portion of hockey players in Alfred's teams are Canadian."

"Really? Ve~ That's funny!"

So they walked outside, and Gilbert noticed how happy Matt looked, he was being noticed and talked too.

Standing at the crossroad to go to North America and Europe, Gilbert was trying to convince him to join them to Germany's house.

"Matthieu! Matthieu!" Came Francis' voice. Matt perked up and smiled, seeing him, he ran up and hugged him.

"Mon petit prince...Mon beau garçon..." Francis mumbled into Matt's hair, stroking it.

"Bonjour mon père, je suis si heureux de te voir! Comment allez-vous?" _Hello father, I'm so happy to see you! How are you? _Matt spoke in french. When he lived with Francis, he called him his father, while Arthur made him call him no more than brother, but he prefered Arthur or Mr. Kirkland.

They continued to have their moment, while Feliciano took the opportunity to talk to Gilbert. Ludwig was left wondering just how many languages Matt spoke. Seeing his brother's face, Gilbert smirked.

"He's knows German too, trust me, don't tell me any of your secrets thinking they will be safe with Matt around."

"Gilbert! Can I talk to you for a second?" Feli asked.

"Sure Feli" He said smiling, rustling his hair. Feliciano was grinning from ear to ear. He stood up on his tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"You must really like Matthew" He whispered, giggling. "I saw what happened"

"You did, did you? Well, he's a great guy." He whispered back.

"He's really nice, and has good food. I was afraid to try it when you said he was raised by Arthur, but I guess the time he spent with Fratello Francis paid off."

They laughed a bit and watched as Matt started pulling away from Francis.

Francis gave him a loving - a little too loving if you were anybody but Francis - kiss on his forehead, then each cheek.

"How's your back?" He whispered to Matt, who was shocked. Gilbert strained to hear, while Feliciano started talking to Ludwig about something.

"Y-y-y-you knew about it? H-how?" Gilbert scrutinized Matt's expression, one of fear and surprise.

"You didn't think you could fool me, did you? I know you better than you think."

"I-It's fine! It doesn't hurt! I swear!" Matt said, loud enough for Gilbert to hear. Even more worried, he started moving towards Matt.

"Oh, you mean you won't feel a thing when I do _this_" Francis said as he yanked Matt over to him, bending his back backward. Caught off guard, Matt let out a yelp and saw red for a second. Gilbert was there in an instant. Grabbing Matthew away from Francis, and putting himself in between the two. In the process, without realizing, he curved Matt's back even more, but he was able to grit through it without making any more noise.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT, FRANCIS?!" Gilbert yelled, infuriated, holding Matt close to him. Francis just looked past his friend and over to Matt.

"S'il vous plaît obtenir que vérifié plus tôt plutôt que plus tard, sinon je vais devoir tu fais glisser à l'hôpital." He said and walked away. Gilbert didn't understand french, but Feliciano did, and he looked over at Matt with sympathy. Gilbert was still steaming, but calmed down instantly when he felt Matt's cold hand gently touch his cheek. He looked down at him with worry in his eyes, but Matt looked fine, in fact, he was smiling again, but there was a bit of a glazed look in his eyes, the sparkle wasn't there.

"I'm fine Gilbert, thanks." He said as Gilbert helped him stand up properly.

"Jesus Christ Matt, what was all of that?"

"Francis is just a bit of a worry-wart, it's no big deal," He said cheerfully. Not showing any evidence of pain, although on the inside, he felt like he was about to pass out. "Lacrosse is a violent game" He added.

_It has nothing to do with anything at all, but I'm not lying, I'm just making a statement that they might end up connecting with my previous words. _he thought.

Gilbert looked at him skeptically, but Matt's acting skills were enough to convince him. With a sigh of defeat. He just pulled Matt into a hug.

"If you're in pain, you really should tell me, it's no good keeping it to yourself."

_How ironic, you're bending me into you right now, causing me almost unbearable pain, yet you want me to tell you when I'm in pain..._ Matt thought darkly, but was indulging in Gilbert's warmth. He felt happy and safe in his arms.

"Alright" He said, and smiled at him.

Gilbert let him go. Ludwig was watching his brother's actions with curiosity, while Feliciano was smiling widely.

"So do you think you'll come over?" Feli asked.

"I would love to, but I promised Fantine and Elizabeth I'd be back, there's some parliament meeting today that I need to get to, sorry. I'll try and come visit soon though, I promise!"

"Ve~" Feli sighed sadly.

They waved good-bye and started walking off in different directions.

Once the others were out of sight, Matt walked into a dense part of the woods and laid down, panting with pain. He grit his teeth and tried to wait it out, but it only seemed to be getting worse.

He tried to get up, but after a lot of pain and colourful words, it didn't seem like that was a possibility either.

"Mon fils, Matthieu. C'est tellement étrange d'entendre ces mots proviennent d'une bouche aussi innocent que le vôtre."

_My son Matthieu. It's so strange to hear those words come from a mouth as innocent as yours. _

"Vous allez, s'il vous plaît. Je vais bien, vous pouvez aller à ta maison." He replied to Francis.

_You go, please. I'm fine, you can go home._

"My son, as brave as ever. You need to learn to accept help sometimes." He said, picking up his son and putting him on his back, cringing after every whimper Matt let out, "I'll take you home."

Matt had already passed out from the pain. Francis turned his head and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

* * *

"Père, ce qui se passe?" _Father, What is happening?_ His Matthieu said in a panic. They were crouching in his house and there were loud noises everywhere, gunfire and lightning from the storm. His fragile Canada, who was no more than a toddler, was terrified. Francis picked him up and held him close.

" Je suis tellement désolé Matthieu, s'il vous plaît pardonnez-moi. Je t'aime tellement, mais c'est la seule façon tu sere en sécurité." _I'm so sorry Matthieu, please forgive me. I love you so much, but it's the only way you'll be safe _He said through his sobs. Burying his face in his only son's hair. Matthew started crying as well, he was so scared.

It was at that moment that Arthur burst through the front door, the glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Francis, give him to me, he'll be safe with me, isn't that what you wanted? You can either give Matthew to me peacefully or I can take him by force. Either way, he's mine." He said with a mocking tone.

The man Matthew didn't recognize stood tall in the doorway. Matthew knew that this man was bad, but he suddenly felt Francis start to pull him out of his arms and out towards the man. he scrambled to get back to the safe embrace of his father, but Francis was too strong. He held Matthew out to the scary man.

"PAPA! NON! S'IL VOUS PLAÎT NE LAISSEZ PAS ME PRENDRE!" _DADDY! NO! PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!_ He cried, as the man extracted him from his father's arms.

He kicked and screamed, but it was no good. He was taken away by the bad man as he watched Francis crumple to the ground, sobbing in defeat.

He was held to Arthur's shoulder, and the rain cascaded down around them. He reached for his father, but he never came running after him. He never came to save him.

That was Matt's first experience with the feelings of rejection and betrayal.

_He didn't want you anymore, that's why he gave you to the bad man. He didn't think you were good enough. _

Matt sobbed and tried to get out of the man's hold, but it was no use. Matthew eventually gave up struggling due to exhaustion. The rain made it very cold and miserable.

When they were far away from his father's home, they went inside a tent, where the man sat him down.

"Alright Canada, you belong to me now, so stop crying. You no longer have to live with that creep France. I'll introduce you to my little brother, I think you will like him." He said with triumph, "My name's Arthur, Arthur Kirkland."

"Je ne... sais pas... ce que vous... dites" Matthew managed to say. He was done crying, but he was still hiccuping.

"What? The bastard didn't teach you english?" Arthur said with exasperation, "Curse him, I had a feeling, well it looks like I will have to find somebody to teach it to you."

With that, he just walked away, but he came back with a boy that looked like Matthew in his arms.

"Woah! This is the boy you were talking about?" he asked in an excited voice, "Matthew?"

"Oui, je m'appelle Matthieu" He whispered.

"What is he saying ? I don't understand his speaking."

"He was raised by Francis, so he only speaks french."

"Well that's no fun." the boy said, pouting.

"Papa... Kumakichi..." Matthew mumbled, then curled up into a ball. A soldier returned with a big case.

"This is all of the boy's stuff, Francis told us to take his polar bear as well. What kind of guy lets a youngster like him play with a polar bear! Those french-men are whacked in the head, I'm tellin' ya."

He handed the case to Matthew, who took it, knowing what it was.

"Kumakichi..." He mumbled again.

"Kumakichi? Is that you're polar bear? I'll bring him over." The soldier said happily, trying to cheer the boy up, "did you really have to chose such a way to rip him from Bonnefoy? I mean, I realize you wanted to make it very memorable and dramatic, but that kid's going to be scarred for life now."

"It was the only way" He said curtly, but realized that maybe what he did was wrong, what if he wouldn't be able to get Matthew to trust him?

Testing out his limited french, he knelt in front of him.

"Parle-tu anglais?" He asked.

"...un peu" He said after a little while. Arthur knew that 'un' mean 'a', and he could only guess that that 'peu' meant something like 'little'.

He motioned for him to continue, but Matthew looked around nervously.

"Ce n'est pas grave, It's okay" He said.

"Uhh, hello, my name is Matthew. I am Canada. I have a bear who name is Kumakichi. I like maple syrup and Britain is an idiot." He said, reciting what France taught him, having no idea what half of what he was saying was.

Arthur looked very surprised and then very mad. Matthew got really scared.

"C'est ce qu-que Francis m-m-m'a appris à d-dire." He stuttered.

Arthur sighed, knowing that Francis must have taught him to say that.

"Alfred, I have a very important mission for you."

"Yes sir!" He said, excited to have something to do.

"I need you to find somebody who speaks french, you go it?"

"Yes sir!" He said again, and ran off. The first soldier came back holding a snarling polar bear pup. He wrestled to keep it in his arms, but then it saw Matthew and got out, running straight for the boy. Terrified, both Arthur and the soldier tried to stop it, but Matthew just pulled it into a hug.

"I'm back Mr. Kirkland!" Alfred called, holding another soldier's hand, leading him back.

"Good job Alfie, you're my hero." He said, lovingly ruffling his hair.

"Yay! I'm the hero!" He said happily. Matthew just buried most of his face in the back of Kumakichi's head. He watched as Arthur showed so much affection towards Alfred. A small hiccup escaped him.

"Papa ne voulait plus de moi. Je n'étais pas assez bon, alors il m'a donné à ces hommes." _Daddy didn't want me. I wasn't good enough, so he gave me to these men. _Matthew said with such despair that even though they didn't understand what he said, they all stopped and looked at him.

The man who spoke french went up to him,

"Ce n'est pas vrai, ton père tu aime. Tu sere en sécurité avec nous..." The man said trying to convince the boy, but Matthew just looked at him with his innocent, big blue-purple eyes that were filled with a sorrow that no child should ever experience.

"What's he saying?" Alfred asked, curious.

"He thinks that France didn't want him anymore, that he wasn't good enough for him, and that he got rid of him, giving him to us because of that." he said, his voice breaking a little at the end, seeing a child in such a state was enough to break his heart.

The rest of them just watched Matthew, and Matthew looked at each one of them in turn. A pain struck Arthur's heart, imagining if Alfred ever had that look on his face was unbearable. When Matthew looked at Alfred, Alfie started crying. He looked up at his big brother.

"Why is he so sad?" He asked, pulling on Arthur's pant leg.

"We had to take him from his father, he thinks that France was getting rid of him. He thinks he wasn't good enough for him, so he abandoned him." Arthur told him, deciding to be honest.

"But that's not true, right? His daddy loved him right?"

"He loved him very much, yes"

To Arthur's surprise, Alfred ran up and pulled Matthew into a hug, or at least, the best he could as Matthew held his polar bear.

"It's okay Matthew, you'll be okay with us, you're daddy loved you, Mr. Kirkland told me so, and he never lies."

Matthew looked at the boy, noticing the similarities between the two. He then looked at the french speaker, who translated the message.

Matthew put Kumakichi on the ground, and walked in front of Alfred. Alfred jumped and spun around as Matthew lifted up his shirt.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"... frère?" he whispered quietly.

"What?"

"'Frère' means brother in french." Arthur translated, he knew that since it's what Francis called him.

"Brother?"

Matthew lifted his own shirt to show a strange birthmark above his left hip. America recognized it, since he had one very similiar to it.

"Woah, that looks like mine!"

Arthur immediately knelt between the two, Alfred lifted his shirt to reveal his own birthmark above the right hip. He studied them carefully, then nodded.

"Looks like you're right Matthew, il est ton frère."

"Mon frère jumeau, je me souviens." Matthew stated matter-of-factly. "Alfred"

"Hmmm?" Alfred asked.

"He says he remembers you, and that you are twin brothers" The translator said.

"Brothers? I thought you were my brother Arthur."

"You know I'm not actually your brother, I'm just your brotherly figure. I get you to consider me as your elder brother, but Francis got Matthew here to consider him as his father, but you two, I believe are actual blood-brothers."

Alfred looked at Matthew, and suddenly remembered. A vague memory, but the unique purple-blue eyes brought memories of his other half, one that he had all but forgotten until now.

"I have a twin brother, his name is Matthew. We have birthmarks that fit together perfectly. We both have a curl in our hair, but they are a little different. We speak different languages-" Alfred rambled on, practicing a trick that Arthur taught him.

"Remember Alfred," He had said, "Whenever something seems crazy or hard to understand, just speak the things you've learned, and see if you can make sense of them."

"brother..." Matthew said, testing out the english word.

"Oui Matthew," Arthur struggled to make a sentence in french. "'frère' est 'brother'"

Matthew nodded and looked at Arthur intelligently, he then turned to the translator.

"Comment dit 'salut' en anglais?"

"hi"

Matthew nodded again, turning to Alfred.

"Hi, my name is Matthew, I have a bear who name Kumakichi, and I am twin brother to you" He said, concentrating hard.

"You spoke with good english!" He said excitedly, " but you'd say "I have a bear _whose name is_ Kumakichi, or you could say _named _Kumakichi. Also, it would be 'I am your twin brother.'"_  
_

"I am your twin brother." Matthew said, struggling to remember all the unfamiliar words. "I have a bear named Kumakichi."

"Hi, my name is Matthew, I have a bear named Kumakichi, and I am your twin brother." Matt tried again. Alfred smiled and hugged Matthew. The translator even clapped.

"Good job Matthew! Perfect!" Alfred cheered.

"Parfait?"

"Yeah!"

Matt turned to the translator and said something in french.

The translator nodded and laughed.

"He says that english is a very weird language, like in french they say 'je m'appelle John,'" He said, using his own name as an example, "which translates to 'I call myself John,' while in english we say our name is whatever."

"That makes french a weird language, what if somebody else was saying what your name was? He calls himself?"

"Yup, that's how it works."

"Weird."

"John," Matt asked, after hearing his name, "Comment épelez-vous mon nom en anglais? En français, je l'épelle M-A-T-T-H-I-E-U mais mon papa m'a dit qu'il l'est orthographié différemment en anglais." _How do you spell my name in english? In french I spell it M-A-T-T-I-E-U, but my dad told me that it is spelt differently in english._

_"_Oui Matthew, en anglais, il est M-A-T-T-H-E-W."

Matthew nodded, trying to remember the spelling.

"What?" Arthur asked, confused.

"In french, he spells his name with and I-E-U instead of an E-W, so he was asking how it was spelt in english."

"Oh, okay. I didn't realize there were different ways to spell the same name."

"Matthew! Come with me! I'll help you learn english!"

Alfred took Matt's hand, and the two of them ran through the forest, Alfred pointing at things, and named them in turn. Matt would repeat after him and try his best to remember it.

"Tree!"

"Arbre: tree"

"Rock!"

"Roche: rock."

Arthur smiled, watching the two children run off.

* * *

"Papa, tu me manques.  
Alfred est méchant avec moi, et M. Kirkland n'a même pas me parler.  
Mon anglais est mauvais, mais j'essaie.  
J'espère que vous avez vraiment ne m'a pas abandonné moi,  
mais je pense que tu m'aimes encore.  
J'espère que je pourrai vous revoir bientôt.

-Matthieu"

_Dad, I miss you. Alfred is mean to me, and Mr. Kirkland does not even talk to me. My English is bad, but I try. I hope you really did not abandon me but I think you still love me. I hope I can see you again soon._

Francais read the note out loud. He had a feeling that Matt kept one of these boxes. He had taught him as a child that if he was ever feeling down or sad, to write a letter. Even if you couldn't send it, he would feel better expressing himself.

Elizabeth and Fantine were out, so Francis let himself in, and brought Matthew to his room and laid him down. He changed him out of his suit into a pair of slacks so he could be comfortable. He was actually surprised at how muscular his little boy was, but then remembered watching him play hockey fro the first time, and shuddered at the memory. He was not very fond of watching his little prince beaten on in such a violent game.

It surprised him, really, that Matthew, such a shy, calm and respectful man was so fond of such barbaric sports.

When Francis had undressed him, he saw that Matthew was wearing two necklaces. One was a key, and the other was silver and black cross he remembered Gilbert wearing.

"Now how did you get that," He had wondered.

He took the key on a hunch, and unlocked the door in the bedroom. There was a collage on the wall, one of pictures of Matthew with people like himself, Alfred and Britain. He saw one that he remembered, it was a photograph of him holding a very young, laughing Matt. He was holding his large blue hat on Matt's head. They were both laughing and having a great time. It was probably one of his favourite pictures, they both just looked so happy, it was the good days.

He read through some more of the letters, and felt a tear roll down his cheek.

His little prince had been suffering so much in silence...

How had he not noticed sooner?

He put everything away gently, and re locked the room. He lifted his son's head and put the key back around it. He gently kissed his forehead, and wiped the tears from his whimpering son's eyes.

Francis looked at his fingers, there was a mysterious powder on them.

_Is my son wearing makeup? _

He wiped at Matt's face more, and sure enough, more skin coloured powder came off, revealing dark circles around his eyes.

"Mon douce Matthieu, pourquoi n'avez-vous pas dormi?" _My sweet Matthew, why are you not sleeping?_ he whispered. Under closer inspection, he saw that there was actually make up almost all over the top half of his body. when he had wiped most of it off his front, there were a few large scars, and multiple little ones. The small ones looked like they were probably the result of Matt being clumsy again, but the larger ones didn't look like accidents.

As gently as he could, he rolled Matt over, only to find there was more make up on his back than there was anywhere else on his body.

There was one scar though, not even the makeup could conceal.

The one that he was sure was the cause off all this pain.

It was massive, running all the way from his shoulder to his hip, it was ragged and red.

Francis shook his head, trying to clear it.

Not being able to take it anymore, he carefully rolled Matt back over and covered him in his blankets. Kissing his forehead, he whispered his good-bye and left.


	8. Chapter 8

**[A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! After this, I don't think I will be able to update for maybe a week. So I tried to make this a mainly happy chapter, but it does change moods later on, so I hope you enjoy! Please leave a favourite/follow/review! Also, I will apologize ahead of time for my horrible poetry!]**

* * *

Ivan had set up bleachers around the lake, although only a handful of people were coming. He put a lot of effort into making the whole lake look like an actual arena. He even set up loudspeakers and painted the lines.

Sitting on the west bleachers were Gilbert, Feliciano, Ludwig, and Lovino. Feli had dragged his brother along, since they were spending time together while Spain was away.

"I'm fucking freezing" Lovino complained. Each of them were bundled up, but the chill still managed to seep through them.

"Suck it up" Gilbert told him, getting a little annoyed.

"Screw off potato-bastard."

"Well that's not very nice of you" Came a sweet voice from behind them. Looking up, they saw Matt in a pair of sweatpants and muscle shirt and no glasses. They gaped at how he didn't even seem fazed by the cold.

"I figured you guys might be cold, so I brought a couple of heaters and hot chocolate." He said pleasantly with a smile. He set down the two portable heaters, which were both battery powered, and handed out the steaming hot chocolate.

"You're an angel man! This might just make up for what you owe me you bastard." Lovino piped up, sounding serious, but there a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh that's right, how much do I owe you?"

"Well for what you hired me for, probably around a few grand."

"Is that so, eh?"

"My services aren't cheap, and I'm already giving you a huge discount."

"You sound like a prostitute there Lovi" Matt said jokingly, " But next time I see you I will have the money together, I just don't have any on me right now."

The only other services that Gilbert could think of that Lovino would offer were the mafia ones... did Matt hire him as a hitman?

"If I were a prostitute my services would be a helluva lot more expensive."

"Well you know what they say, In heaven, the lovers are Italians."

"Damn straight."

They both laughed, and Feli was staring incredulously at his brother, him laughing was an uncommon sight.

"How do you two even know each other?" Gilbert asked.

"The 'our brothers are (and/or hang out with) bastards' club." Lovino said.

Matt just laughed but said no more.

"Oh and Germany, I meant to say this at the meeting, but I never really got a chance. I hope there's no hard feelings about, you know, the... past." Matt said, a little worried that he wouldn't be forgiven.

"You can call me Ludwig, and no, none at all. We both did what we felt was right, but I will apologize for stealing your nickname in WW2"

"Nickname?" Feliciano asked, slightly sad since he didn't have a nickname.

"Stormtroopers?"

"How the hell did you get the name Stormtroopers?" Lovino asked, surprised.

"Ha, I guess since we were helping Britain, or something like that."

"Like hell, it's because your troops would kick our ass!" Ludwig joked. It was Gilbert's turn to stare, jaw-dropped at his brother.

_Ludwig just openly admitted that Matt beat him. Sweet, innocent Matt... kicked Ludwig's ass? _He thought, none of this was making any sense.

"Not necessarily. To be honest, British military training is as bad as their cooking, but ours was even worse. I respected your soldiers and your troops. We were doing nothing different than you guys, in ww1 at least, eh? The only difference was that we were rotting in different trenches."

"Very true." Ludwig said.

They talked about their past war experiences for a little while longer. Gilbert took a sip of his hot chocolate, it was really good.

"Matt, you dummy, you're going going to get sick dressed like that!" Came a familiar, but not very welcomed voice.

Alfred was standing on top of the top bench, beaming at his brother.

"Oh, hey bro, what brings you here?"

"Like I'd miss a chance to see Ivan get his assed kicked!"

Matt just sighed,

"Alright you can join, I see you've already brought along Finland," He motioned over the the opposite bleachers.

"Wha- How did you- I never said I wanted-"

"Alfie, I can read you like a book. Anyways, the more the merrier, right?"

"Alright! But seriously bro, how are you not frozen yet?"

"Maybe because I'm used to this sort of weather?"

"Oh yeah." Alfred said, and walked away, into the back room to get set up.

Lovino inspected the people on the other bleachers, there were people he only knew by country name, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

Ivan looked up and waved at Matt, who nodded.

"Well I have to go now guys, I don't know if Fantine and Elizabeth will show up, but they might. I hope you enjoy the game, if you want more hot chocolate, just buzz this." He said, handing Gilbert a button, 'the number of times you buzz it, the number of hot chocolates the guy will bring. Anyways, wish me luck, stay warm!"

Gilbert took a hold of Matt's hand, bring him in close. He was surprisingly warm to the touch.

"Win it for me, Birdie." He whispered in his ear.

Matt pulled away and smiled.

"I plan on it," He said, cocky.

He waved and ran off into the back room that Alfred had gone into.

"I fear for his life, not only because he's going up against Russia, but that he has to have Alfred on his team." Gilbert sighed.

"He'll be fine, have you seen him play hockey before? I made the mistake of being guilted into watching a game with him. He turns into a completely different-" Lovino started, but was interrupted when a young girl ran up behind him and gave him a big hug.

"Zio Lovino! Mi sei mancato!" _Uncle Lovino! I missed you! _She cheered in her sweet voice. He smiled and patted her head. The girl stood only up to about his hip, she had long brown hair and a curl that matched the Italy twins'. There was a red, white and green bow in her hair, and she was wrapped in a puffy winter jacket.

"È questo lo zio Feliciano?" _Is this uncle Feliciano? _She asked, squeezing in between Lovi and Feli.

"Sì è, Isabella" Lovino answered in an unusually soft voice.

"Yay! Ciao zio Feliciano! Il mio nome è Isabella, io sono Italiano-Canada!" _Hi uncle Feliciano! My name is Isabella, I am Italian-Canada! _She said, giving Feli a big hug. He brightened up.

"Ve~! Sei così carino!" _You're so cute!_ He cooed, hugging her back. The two of them had the same colour eyes, but she had Lovi's hair colour.

"Hallo Herr Ludwig, Hallo Herr Gilbert," Came a young German voice. There were two twin woman, who Ludwig could only guess were Fantine and Elizabeth. One was holding the hand of a young boy that looked liked him, but with hair as light as Gilbert's. The boy was a bit taller than the girl that the Italians were fawning over. He was wearing a heavy winter coat, and his cheeks were slightly pink from the cold.

"Mein Gott..." Gilbert said," HE'S SO CUTE! You know Ludwig, he reminds me of you when you were just a little boy! You know, when you loved to wear that Lenderhosen?" He ruffled his little brother's hair.

"Ya, ya. But I will admit, he's cute."

Lovino, directing his attention from the little girl, started talking to the twins.

"Alright, one of you speak." He asked. One of them flipped him the bird when none of the kids could see and he laughed.

"Okay guys, the one here," He said, pointing to the one that gave him the finger, "Is Fanny. This one is Liz."

"Fantine and Elizabeth," Elizabeth corrected him, "You can call me Liz, but I dare you to call Fantine 'Fanny'"

They both sat down, and got more hot chocolate. They watched on the ice, and Alfred came out, followed by Ivan. They faced each other, sizing themselves up.

"You're no competition to me, I came to play the champion." Ivan teased.

It was then that Canada appeared out of nowhere and started talking quickly to Alfred. They all wore jerseys that portrayed their national flag, and were both holding helmets and hockey sticks.

The two of them set their sticks and helmets aside and started doing laps of the lake, Alfred struggling to keep up with his brother. Matthew was easily gliding over the ice with grace.

What nobody knew was that his back was numb. He had special medication prescribed to him for his hockey, it was extremely strong, and pretty much got rid of all the pain in his back, making him feel normal again, plus it was non-drowsy. It's downsides were that when the pain came back, it came back worse than it was previously, at least for a while. He wasn't sure whether is just went back to it's normal pain or if he'd just get used to it. It was also highly addictive, so he only used it when he really needed to.

After doing a few laps they grabbed their sticks and started doing practice shots on their goalie. Matt and Ivan had both brought their hand-picked goalies.

They did maneuvers around each other and shot the puck. Matt had a precise, aimed shot, while Alfred just hit it at the goalie and hoped for the best. Finland and Ivan started doing the same on their net.

Not too long after they all felt warmed up, an announcement came on in 4 seperate languages; Russian, English, French and Finnish; to stand up for the national anthems. Gilbert didn't really pay attention to the Russian or American ones, which were the first two that played, but when the Canadian one came on, he listened closely. He saw Matt standing proudly in the middle of the lake with a hand over his heart, smiling.

_**O Canada!** (O Canada!)_  
_**Our home and native land!** (Terre de nos aïeux!) _  
_**True patriot love in all thy sons command.** (Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!)_

_**With glowing hearts we see thee rise**, (Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,)_  
_**The True North strong and free!** (Il sait porter la croix!)_

_**From far and wide,** (Ton histoire est une épopée)_  
_**O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.** (Des plus brillants exploits.)_

_**God keep our land glorious and free!** (Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,)_  
_**O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.** (Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.)_

_**O Canada, we stand on guard for thee**. (Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.)_

The twins sang proudly in their separate languages. From what he had heard, Matt seemed to sing in both, switching every verse or so.

Gilbert compared the lyrics from Matt's anthem to Alfred's, it was quite interesting really, how different the two were, about as different as Matt and Alfred were.

The Finnish anthem played, but he was too lost in thought to pay attention.

He saw Matt start talking to Alfred, like he was telling him the battleplan, Alfred just listened attentively and nodded.

"So what trick do you think he's going to pull off this time?" Fantine asked her sister.

"See how cocky he looks right now? That means he's got a new idea, prepare to be amazed, basically. My guess is that he's going to let the opposing team get over-confident, since that seems to be a pattern with him."

"How's he going to manage that?" Gilbert asked curiously.

"Well he explained one of his strategies to us, he gets the first goal, this lowers the morale of the other team slightly, but then he lays back, not getting anymore goals and letting the opposing team get some. He says that this makes them overconfident in themselves, making they lazy and less prepared. He also said that if he just let them get a goal first, it wouldn't work as well because they would be anticipating his goal." Liz told him.

"He really should write a book about all of this, he just comes up with these maneuvers and never tells anybody, just keeps them in his head."

Gilbert nodded.

The game started with Ivan and Matt in the centre, the ref held the puck in the air.

'Sexy' was never a word Gilbert had associated with Matt, but when he looked up at him through his helmet, some hair falling into his face, that confident smirk, and shining blue eyes that nearly made his heart stop, Gilbert put that image, officially burned into his brain, down as the new definition.

The ref blew his whistle and in a flash, Matt had the puck and was around Ivan. He passed the puck over to Alfred who slapshot it towards the goalie, where it bounced off, but Matt was already there and snuck it into the net. Their side of the bleachers cheered. Matt smiled up at them and waved, but then went over and hugged his brother.

Gilbert suddenly felt a little jealous, he should be the one Matt went and hugged after a success, not that traitor Alfred...

* * *

The game was long, but to everybody but Matt's fans, it would seem that Matt was struggling to keep Ivan and Finland from scoring.

As the final period started, the score was 3-1, Russia in the lead.

He saw Matt start talking to Alfred again, making motions with his hands. Alfred looked confused, but when Matt explained it again, he nodded.

It was Ivan and Matt facing off again, so when the puck dropped and Matt scooped it, and immediately shot it over towards Alfred. Alfred skated forward, Ivan and Finland tagging close behind. Matt had raced ahead to the net and Alfred shot the puck over to him. Matt got it and circled the net, tucking the puck in on the opposite side of the net to where the goalie was.

For the next goal Ivan and Matt started fighting for the puck when it got against the wall. Gilbert nearly had a heart attack when Ivan nailed Matt into the wall with bone-breaking strength, but Matt just shook it off like nothing had happened. Not too long after that, they were in the same situation, and Matt threw Ivan into the side without mercy. They heart Belarus scream, Ukraine and LIthuania held her back to stop her from running out onto the ice.

* * *

Gilbert felt nervous for his Matt, too soon, there was only a few seconds left in the game, the score was tied 4-4.

There was silence in the bleachers, and everybody was on edge.

In the last few seconds of the game, it seemed that a tie was inevitable, but Matt made a daring move, he knew he didn't have time to make it to the other end in time, so he brought his stick back and sent the puck flying towards Ivan's net. His goalie didn't even have time to react when the puck shot past his face.

The net's buzzer when off a split second before the second buzzer went off, signifying the end of the game. They all cheered, Matt threw his arms in the air, smiling. Throwing his helmet, gloves and stick aside, skated up to Ivan and Finland and shook their hands.

"It was a good game, da?" Ivan said, in a surprisingly good mood after loosing.

"One of the best I've ever had so far, You and Tino make a tough team!" Canada said delightfully, back to his normal sweet self, while Alfred was going crazy, cheering about how he beat Russia, and that America was all victorious.

"I'm sorry about him though." Matt told them, pointing to his brother.

"I'll just get him back later, da!"

"Don't hurt him too much, eh. He's more fragile than you think."

They waved and went their separate ways, when Matt went over to his group, where he was applauded.

"Alright guys! Tonight we celebrate! Drinks are on me!" He called up and they cheered louder, "I'll take the kids back home, I have to change anyways." He told the twins and they nodded. He headed back into the locker room where Alfred greeted him.

"Great job little bro!" He said, slapping him on the back.

Matt smiled back and quickly showered and changed.

Walking back outside in his muscle shirt and slacks again, he took Isabella and Gustav back to Canada while everybody else headed to Ludwig's place to start off.

When he dropped off the kids, he went back home, got dressed into something more appropriate.

He gathered the amount of money he owed Lovi, and put it in an envelope.

When he got to Ludwig's place, the mood was bright. There were loud cheers as Matt walked in. Gilbert came up to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

"I've never seen you like that Birdie!" He said, and Matt could tell he had already started drinking, "Although I was looking for a better reaction from Ivan, it was a good game!"

So they all headed out together to the bar. Matt noted how close Lovi and Fantine were getting, talking away.

He ordered round after round for everyone, and they laughed, drank and partied for a good portion of the night.

* * *

"Mr. Arthur? Where's Matthew? I'm bored, and I want to play!"

"He's in his room, Alfred."

"But why? Doesn't he want to play too?"

"He studying english very hard, he wants to be able to speak with everybody."

"Oh, well shouldn't he take breaks?"

"Only if he wants to, you can go ask."

"Okay!" Alfred said cheerfully and ran inside.

Arthur sighed, he knew what was happening. He realized that Matthew still thought Francis willingly gave him up, so he wanted to prove himself to his new caretaker. He was studying english nearly 24/7. The french translator would have to leave the camp periodically because Matthew wouldn't leave him alone.

The other day, Matthew had come up to him and had a basic conversation with him. He was a smart kid, and he gave him credit for how hard he was trying.

"Matthew! Matthew!" Alfred cheered, barging into his brother's room.

"Hello brother, how are you?"

"Wow! You're english is really good!"

Matt looked at him with confusion, trying to make sense of what he had heard.

"thank you" He said after a while.

"So do you want to come play with me?"

Matt just looked at him, not understanding him.

"One sec!" Alfred called, and ran outside. He spotted John, the translator and ran up to him.

"Good day Mister John, how do you say 'Do you want to play with me?' in French?"

"Good day Alfred, and it would be 'Veux-tu jouer avec moi?"

"Vuh-too joo-ay avek mwah" he sounded it out, "Thank you!"

Arthur watched as little Alfred ran past him again, mumbling something. He just shook his head, that kid confused him a lot.

"Vuh-too joo-ay avek mwah?" Alfred asked his brother, testing his memory.

"Oui frère... uhhh... je veux dire... yes." _Sure brother... uhh... I mean... yes. _He said back.

"'Do you want to play with me' est 'veux-tu jouer avec moi.." He repeated to himself, then quickly wrote something down.

He showed Alfred and Alfred just looked at it,

"um, I don't know how to read just yet..." He said kind of embarrassed, Arthur never had time to teach him.

"Oh," Matt said, sensing his reluctance. He brought his pencil and the paper he wrote on and went outside with Alfred.

When he spotted Arthur, he showed him the writing.

"Wha-? You know how to write?" He said startled at first.

"Words... right?" Matthew asked.

"Do you want to play with me?" Arthur read, "Yeah, your spelling is right."

"Merci." Matthew said back immediately, then corrected himself. "Sorry, uh.. thank you."

He wrote down the french underneath it, and drew some lines, matching words, then he showed Arthur again.

"Right?" He asked, but Arthur shrugged, his french wasn't that good.

"I'll bring you to John," Alfred said, taking his brother's hand. When they found him, Alfred took Matt's paper.

"He wants to know if he matched the words right."

John took the paper and looked at it, he knelt beside Matt and made some corrections, and wrote some notes to help Matt later on.

"Thank you, John" Matt said. Alfred laughed at the way he said the translators name.

"You said it like 'jshohn' it's just 'John'"

"John." Matt repeated, only this time without the accent. Alfred gave him a thumbs up and Matthew smiled.

They returned to his room quickly so he could put everything away, then he grabbed Kumakichi and they were off.

When they returned for dinner, Arthur had cooked for them.

Matthew just sat at the table, but didn't touch his fish and chips.

"What's wrong Matthew? Not hungry?" Alfred asked.

Matt shook his head.

"Je n'aime pas la nourriture de cet homme" _I don't like this man's food. _He mumbled, but he was hungry, so he started nibbling on a fry. John, who was sitting with them, laughed. _  
_

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked, walking back in from the kitchen with more food.

Matt had an idea though, one that he came up with while he was at Francis'.

He stood up, removing the fish from his plate, and adding more fries. He went into the kitchen and started cooking his own food.

Arthur stood there, kind of dumbfounded. He watched as the little boy stood on a chair by the stove, stirring something he'd quickly thrown together.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing Matthew?" Arthur asked, but when Matt just looked at him confused, he didn't bother.

About ten minutes later, Matt came out with his plate full of fries with gravy and cheese curds on top.

"Poutine!" He said delightfully.

"It looks gross." Alfred said, "Why did you put stuff on your fries?"

"For the last time Alfred, they're called chips!" Arthur told him impatiently.

"Try it!" Matt asked him. Alfred looked at it skeptically, but shrugged and took some.

"Wow! It's really good" he said. Matt went around the table giving everybody a taste, before he could stop him, he left the table again to go give some food to the other soldiers stationed around them. By the time he came back, all the poutine he had made was gone and everybody was done eating.

Nobody even realized that Matt still hadn't actually eaten. He felt bad for all the other men who had to eat Arthur's grub, so he gave up his meal for them.

"Alright bedtime you two!" Arthur said, bringing his hands together.

Matt had heard that one before so he understood.

Once Alfred and Matt were stationed in their separate rooms across the hall. Matthew left to door to his room open a bit for two reasons. First, he didn't want to feel alone, shut up in his room. Second, he knew that Arthur went into Alfred's room every night to sing or read books to him until he fell asleep. Matt would lay in his own bed and listen, remembering when Francis would sing to him, and make him feel safe when he was alone in his dark room.

Alfred was afraid of the dark, so that was why Arthur stayed with him until he fell asleep to turn off the lights.

That night, Arthur sang a song to Alfred, instead of reading. Matt listened closely, only vaguely understanding the lyrics.

_When I came upon the shore,  
__I was in a new place.  
__A brand new world,  
__New challenges to face._

_I walked through the trees,  
__I looked at the bright sky,  
__I ran through the plains  
__And with happiness I'd cry_

_Then another miracle,  
__I found a little boy  
__He said his name was Alfred  
__And my heart was filled with joy_

_There were others there,  
__Who wanted him too,  
__So I fought long and hard,  
__But it was Alfred who came through._

_We asked him to choose,  
__We asked him to decide,  
__When I thought all hope was lost,  
__He was by my side._

Matt stopped paying attention to the song and rolled over, starting to cry. He was so alone, Francis had left him, this Arthur guy didn't care about him, only wanted him as something to call his own.

He held Kumakichi close and the polar bear comforted him.

He heard the light switch turn off and he tried his best to make his crying silent, but Arthur heard.

_How am I supposed to deal with a crying child? He doesn't even speak english..._ He thought, but felt like he should at least help the boy calm down to sleep. He started walking towards Matt's room, but he heard his name being called from outside. He looked back at Matthew's room, but the sound of crying was gone, so he left to find the source of the voice.

Once he heard the front door close, Matthew sat up, and couldn't hold it back any longer. He started sobbing, trying his best to mute himself by burying his face in Kumakichi's fur. He felt so alone, so unloved.

"Stop it." Came Alfred's voice. Matthew looked at him with surprise, not sure what to say back. Alfred had managed to sneak into Matt's room and was standing beside his bed.

"Please don't cry." Alfred said a little softer. Matthew sniffled, and wiped his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, go bedtime." He said, trying his best to make a proper sentence.

Alfred just hopped up in bed beside where his brother was sitting.

"Please don't cry," He said again, "When you cry, you make me want to cry too."

He hugged his brother tightly and tried to comfort him, which just made Matthew cry even harder.

"You know what?" Alfred said, suddenly mad, " Come with me."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Matthew wailed, thinking his brother was mad at him. Holding Kumakichi, he was lead out of the room. Alfred had tears in his eyes now at this point, just seeing his brother made him sad too. Alfred pinpointed Arthur and marched over there.

"Mr. Arthur!" He said, and Arthur turned around in surprise.

"Alfred! What are you doing up?" He said sternly, but saw the tears in his eyes.

"You're crying! What's wrong? Does something hurt? Did you have a nightmare?" he said, starting to panic.

"... You're worried about me crying? I'm not!" He said, and pointed behind him, but he couldn't see his brother, he was sure he was holding his hand, but it was as if his brother was invisible.

"Where'd Matthew go?" He asked.

"You brought Matthew out here too?"

Alfred focused hard, and suddenly he saw his brother again, he was crying harder than ever, his face buried in his bear's fur.

"Oh, Matthew, you're crying too." Arthur said, but was still focused on the watery-eyed Alfred.

"I'm sad because my brother is sad! It's all your fault! Why don't you sing to him or read to him like you do to me? He has nightmares every night and you don't even care!" Alfred started yelling, the tears flowing freely. .

"Alfred..." Arthur whispered, kneeling down beside him, wiping his cheek.

"No! You have to care for Matt too! You took him away from his dad, but he still needs a brotherly figure like you are to me!"

"Please stop..." Matt said quietly, but they didn't hear him, Alfred was still yelling.

"I'm sorry...please stop...don't fight..." He kept repeating over and over again, until Alfred calmed down a bit. Both Arthur and Alfred watched Matthew. He looked so fragile and innocent.

Arthur though, continued to comfort Alfred.

"I HATE YOU!" Alfred yelled, "WHY ARE YOU SO UNFAIR! YOU TOOK MATT AWAY FROM HIS FATHER, NOW YOU DON'T EVEN TREAT HIM NICELY! YOU'RE A TERRIBLE BROTHER!"

Before Arthur could even think, he just saw red and was so enraged that he brought his hand back and slapped him across the face.

Arthur froze, horrified by what he had just done.

He just stared at Alfred's face,

but Alfred wasn't crying anymore,

He didn't even look hurt.

He was holding his brother, who was somehow in front of him now.

Alfred just stared with shock at Arthur.

"Alfred... Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

Alfred just backed up slowly, but then Arthur saw that when Matt stood up, his one cheek was bright red. Alfred, held his brother's face, inspecting it, his eyes flashing back to Arthur with a look of betrayal.

"You don't even really know me, and yet you protected me..." Alfred told his brother, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Matt was standing behind him, and Alfred was sure he saw Arthur's hand coming towards him. He automatically cringed, but was thrown back. He heard the slap, but didn't feel anything. Matt had put himself between Arthur's rage and himself.

Matt was stunned, his cheek stung with sharp and intense pain, but he did what he had to do. There was no way he was going to let anybody get hurt for defending him.

"I'm sorry... please stop... don't fight..." He started repeating again, faster and faster, until he was practically in hysterics, not only because of the pain, but the panic that it was his fault that Alfred would no longer love Arthur.

Arthur was now crying, he couldn't believe what he had just done, and the look of pure betrayal and hatred in Alfred's eyes was unbearable.

"Matthew, be quiet now. I should be the one apologizing."

Matthew's voice just got higher and faster and Kumakichi let out a squeak when he squeezed him too hard. Arthur reached out a hand towards the trembling child but he just cringed away like a hurt puppy and started saying it louder, begging for forgiveness.

"Matthew, it's okay. I-I lost control... I'm so sorry."

Matthew had started saying things in french at this point but it was incoherent rambling.

One of the soldiers lead Alfred and Matthew inside, and Arthur just stayed where he was, still kneeling.

_I_ am_ a terrible brother..._

When they were inside, Matt and Alfred were lead back to their rooms.

Matt just sat in his bed, cradling his aching cheek, Arthur was strong. Kumakichi gently licked it, trying to make it feel better. Matt stood up and looked outside. The moon was full and it cast an eerie light over the land, not too far away, he spotted a campfire, when he listened closely he heard some singing. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so he snuck out, letting Kumakichi hang from the back of his shirt, he crawled out his bedroom window and followed the sound of singing.

When he got there, there was about twelve of the soldiers sitting on logs, he stayed by the trees, not sure whether he wanted to be seen there or not.

"Hey boys! Look! It's little Matthew!"

"It's the bringer of decent food!"

"Hey, look at the little cutie!"

"Come sit over here!"

They all greeted him warmly, the others didn't stop singing, but they smiled at him. Matthew went and sat down.

"Aw what happened to your cheek?" One of the younger ones asked, poking it. Matthew flinched. Upon further inspection, he saw the red outline looked a lot like a hand print, but he didn't say anything. He had a little brother at home, so he was good with dealing with young kids.

"Here, have this!" He said, handing matthew a s'more.

Matt looked at it curiously, but took a bite, and smiled.

"It's called a s'more."

"S'more..." He repeated and took another bite. It tasted very good.

"My name's Jack." He said.

"Bonjou- oh, uh, my name is Matthew."

"That's right, you're the french kid." He said, but smiled at him, ruffling his hair a bit.

"Thank you Jack" Matt said.

"His accent's so cute!" said the man on the other side of him, a rather burly guy with red hair.

"Thank you" Matt said again. He felt better, and was smiling easily.

"Can I have plus s'more please?" He asked, struggling to say what came so easily to him in french, in english.

"'Can I have one more s'more please?'" Jack corrected him.

"Okay, Can I have one more s'more please?" Matt tried again, happy that somebody was actually helping him with obtaining proper english.

Jack smiled and handed him another s'more.

"S'more for brother so he feel better." He said, looking at the one in his hand.

"A s'more for my brother so he will feel better." Jack corrected again.

Matthew smiled again and repeated him, happy to find that he was able to say the phrase without missing a beat.

"You're smart Matthew!" Jack told him. Matt hopped off the long and ran back to the house with Kumakichi.

He managed to sneak back up to where their rooms were without being spotted. He knocked lightly on Alfred's door.

"GO AWAY!" Came the answer.

"Alfred, brother." Matthew said. Alfred hesitantly opened the door, peeking through first to make sure it was actually Matt, then let him in his room.

Matthew handed the s'more to Alfred, who took it, seeing the marshmallow and chocolate.

"A s'more for my brother so he will feel better." Matt said, smiling. Alfred noticed the swollen hand shape on Matt's cheek, but took a bite of the strange snack. He chewed it and smiled. He let Matt lead him back to the campfire.

"Matt's back!" They cheered.

"Little Alfie's here as well."

Matt went back to sit beside Jack

After that, he felt better. Everybody, including Matt and Alfred, was laughing, singing and otherwise having a good time. One thing that fascinated Matt though, was the instrument one of the men was playing.

Jack noticed how Matthew watched the player's every movement, looking entranced.

"It's called a violin." He said.

"Violin?"

"Yeah."

"I want... to learn, violin." Matt said, proud that he made another sentence.

"Well, I'm sure if you ask, he'll teach you."

Matthew nodded, excited.

It was very late when the group finally dispatched. The violinist stayed behind to pack up his instrument.

He noticed a second shadow, and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Matthew.

"Did you like it?" He asked the boy, motioning to the violin, remembering that he wasn't yet fluent in english.

The boy just nodded.

"Do you want to learn how to play it?"

Matthew nodded again excitedly, a little sparkle coming to his eyes. The violinist smiled, and reopened the case.

"I guess you can say this is my way of repaying you for the poutine."

The violinist, David, showed Matt how to hold the violin and bow, then started teaching him the notes. Matthew had a natural affinity for music, and picked it up quickly. Before long, he was playing some basic tunes with ease, and each note sounded perfect.

"You did great today Mattie, but I think it's time we got some sleep now." David told him, taking the violin back .

Matthew nodded reluctantly.

"Thank you David!" He said, and returned to his room.

He laid in his bed, pulling his covers around him, the beautiful melodies of the night still playing in his ears. As he started drifting off, he heard a tune from earlier...

_When I came upon the shore,  
__I was in a new place,  
__A brand new world,  
__New challenges to face._

_I walked through the trees,  
__I looked at the bright sky,  
__I ran through the plains,  
__And with happiness I'd cry._

_Then another miracle,  
__I found a little boy,  
__He said his name was Alfred,  
__And my heart was filled with joy._

_There were others there,  
__Who wanted him too,  
__So I fought long and hard,  
__But it was Alfred who came through._

_We asked him to choose,  
__We asked him to decide,  
__When I thought all hope was lost,  
__He was by my side._

Matthew eventually let sleep envelop him.

He didn't realize that the song went far beyond what he'd heard before.

_It took too long to notice,_  
_That there was really two,_  
_There were eyes of purple,_  
_But also eyes of blue._

_I thought they were one!_  
_Similar to look at,_  
_I called them both Alfred,_  
_when one's name was Matt._

_They had both shared,_  
_A special spot in my heart,_  
_But, I didn't realize that,_  
_Until they were apart._

_One fateful day,_  
_Based on pure chance,_  
_I was walking with Alfred,_  
_When I ran into france,_

_I couldn't help but stare,_  
_France had Alfred too,_  
_I had to get him back,_  
_it was what I had to do._

_I didn't give him a choice,_  
_I never let him decide,_  
_I brought him to my home,_  
_He was back at my side._


	9. Chapter 9

Matt moaned and rolled over. He had drank quite a bit last night, but he had done a lot worse and wasn't in as much pain and misery as he was right now. The medication from yesterday had worn off so the pain in his back came back twice as strong, on top of his hangover.

"I wonder how many times I'll have to hit my head of that bedpost before I'd die" He wondered out loud.

He had played a multitude of drinking games with Gilbert, like beer pong and caps, probably not the best idea since he knew what was already waiting for him this morning.

"Hey hun, how ya doing?" Liz said, she was standing beside him. Last night they were too drunk to go back to Canada so they were staying in the guest rooms of Ludwig's house.

Matt just grumbled into his pillow. She sighed and pulled the covers around him and closed the blinds.

"How's Mattie doing?" Lovino asked when she came back down the stairs into the main room. She just shook her head. The only people that were up were Ludwig, Lovino, Feliciano, Fantine and herself.

"He's pretty hungover then." Ludwig stated.

"This is the guy who tied with Ivan for the number of bottles of vodka they could drink before they passed out. He was up the next morning making pancakes for everyone."

"Not to mention he went out to patrol in the bright sun once everybody finished eating. Even Ivan wouldn't get out of bed, or at least until Belarus found him." Fantine added.

"A few beers wouldn't do this to him."

"Maybe he's in pain? With that body-check Ivan gave him yesterday looked like it could shatter a few bones"

"Yeah, remember when he walked around for a week with a fractured ankle and said he 'didn't even feel it'? I'm calling BS on that, but maybe it's something like that again."

* * *

Matt's vision went red and white every time he tried to move, but after gritting his teeth, he managed to sit up. Everything hurt, he gently touched his collarbone and winced. Yup, definitely broken.

"Merde..." He said, the medication he had before must've numbed all his injuries. Trying to ignore the pain in his back, he tested the rest of his body to make sure there weren't any other injuries. He concluded it was just his collarbone.

_Great, now I can't walk or move my shoulder. _

He let out a sigh, but cringed, regretting it immediately.

He tried to stand up, but with no such luck.

"What's wrong Birdie?" Came a familiar voice from behind him.

_merde merde merde merde_ Matt thought, trying to mask all the pain as quickly as he could. Thankfully he was sitting with his back to the door so Gilbert couldn't see his face.

"Just a little hung over I guess," Matt replied, but his voice was all over the place. Gilbert was standing behind him still, but he wasn't able to hide how badly he was shaking.

"For some reason, I don't believe you. Are you cold, why are you shaking like that?"

"It's nothing," Matthew snapped, praying Gilbert would go away, at least for a little bit.

"You're in pain, what's wrong?" Gilbert's voice softened with worry, coming around to see Matt's face. He knelt by the side of the bed.

Matt just grit his teeth and tried to look away but Gilbert's hand was on his cheek, forcing him to look at him.

"I really wish you would just tell me, what do I have to do for you to trust me?" he nearly begged.

"I-I-I do, trust you, I mean, it's just..."

Gilbert got up and gently sat beside him, he noticed some discolouration at his shoulder, and when he pulled Matt's shirt collar down for a better look, he saw how misshapen his collarbone looked.

"Dammit Matt, a broken collarbone is not 'nothing'. "

Matt didn't say anything.

"Come on Matt, we're going to the hospital."

"NO!" Matt said in a panic. If he went to the hospital for his collarbone, they would have to take x-rays, and in them, they'd be able to see that there was something wrong with his back. As much as he wanted to get better, he would much rather put up with the pain then have everybody worry about him. It would bring stress and misery to the twins and anybody else who cared for him.

"Don't be ridiculous, you need make sure it heals properly."

"Please, no..." Matthew begged.

"Surely you're not afraid of hospitals right?"

"No, it's just, if they find it..." Matt started mumbling, the pain was so bad his vision was blurry. Gilbert noticed how Matt wasn't able to focus on him. Gilbert wasn't sure whether it was the desperation in Matt's glazed eyes or if it was the feeling of sympathy, but he gave up the pursuit.

"Alright fine, but at least lie down. The pain from it goes away for normal people in a few weeks, but since you're a nation, it will probably only be a couple of days, but please, at least rest." Gilbert told him as he gently helped him lie down, although he was securing his shoulder, making sure it didn't move at all in the process, he noticed how Matt unsuccessfully tried to keep from whimpering whenever he moved.

"It's not just your shoulder is it? What else?"

Matt just remained silent, staring up at the ceiling.

"There's some uh...Advil in my bag.. can you do me a huge favour and get it for me please?"

Gilbert nodded, happy to be helping, he found it and gave it to Matt, who popped the cap and took two pills. Both pills though, were a dark green colour. Not the regular blue or red Gilbert remembered them being.

"To be honest, my head kind of hurts, do you think you could pass me one?"

"No!" Matt said again, hiding the bottle.

"What? Why not? It's just Advil, I've had it before."

Matt gave up, he didn't think he could keep up hiding this any more.

"It's uh... not advil."

"Then what is it?"

"...painkillers."

"Isn't Advil a painkiller anyways?"

"This is... different."

"why did you bring along painkillers? Were you expecting to get hurt in that hockey game?"

"Sort of."

Gilbert was getting sick of Matt's small statements, but he noticed that Matt was starting to open up a bit.

"What did you bring those pills here for?" He asked again, a little quieter.

The painkillers took effect pretty quickly, considering he was normally only supposed to take a half tablet.

Gilbert saw that Matt was getting drowsy, so he decided to press on, trying to get as many answers as he could.

"Please Birdie, tell me, I want to help you."

"It hurts, it hurts so much. Everything hurts, please, make it stop..." Matt started mumbling, high off the painkillers.

"What hurts?"

"By back, my shoulder... my heart."

"Why do they hurt?"

"The scars, the bones, the scars, the... scars..." and with that, Matt was asleep. Gilbert tucked him in his blankets, but was happy to see him resting. After a bit of hesitation, he planted a small kiss on his forehead.

He walked downstairs, and everybody probably mistook the worried look on his face as him being hung over.

He ignored their chorus of "good morning"s and walked straight to the phone.

He wasn't sure of the number, so he had to look it up.

"Hello, Arthur Kirkland speaking."

"Alright teaboy, tell me, how the hell did Matt get that scar?"

"What scar?"

"Don't play dumb."

There was silence in both the room but also on the other end of the line.

"What business of yours is it?" Arthur finally said. Gilbert was already in a bad mood from his headache as well as seeing Matt in that condition.

"Well Matt's laying in bed right now with a broken collarbone and he refuses to go to the hospital because he said they might find out something! He mumbled something about his scar and how he was in a helluva a lot of pain, so I'm going to get the truth right now or I will go over there and strangle it out of you." Gilbert said, his voice getting louder and angrier. Feliciano snuck closer to Ludwig, getting scared.

There was a long exhale on the other end of the line.

"The truth is... I don't know how he got it."

"You damn bastard! How can you not know! He was under your care, and you don't even know!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't I saw if for the first time recently, I asked Alfred about it, but he got all quiet and wouldn't say anything, what I know is that it was sometime before 1812. What happened was really tragic, but I don't actually know how he got it."

"Well, 'before 1812' is a really big timeline."

"I mean that if was nearby 1812, probably around the American Revolutionary War."

"Tell me everything you _do_ know."

* * *

It surprised Matt how excited Alfred would get when Arthur left.

"Good riddance!" He would cheer as the British ship would leave the port.

Matthew would sigh at how ungrateful Alfred was being, but didn't say anything else.

Or at least, until that one night.

It was storming, so they weren't able to have their normal bonfire. Instead, they stayed inside their tent.

"You know what Matt?" Alfred asked him, they were both pretty much grown men by this point. Alfred lying in his sleeping bag while Matt was sitting cross-legged, smoothing out Kumajirou's fur (It was Kumajirou by this point in time.)

"What?" Matt replied back.

"I want to be my own country. I'm sick of Arthur's shit."

Matt stared at his brother in surprise.

"What shit?!" Matt yelled, suddenly angry, "Arthur treats you like a god and yet you say he isn't treating you properly! He raised us! He helped us through everything and got us to be what we are now!"

"Well you know what? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of just being a material item to him! I want to be recognized as _ME! _Not just Arthur's little child!"

"You think _you're _the one treated like a material item! HE _LOVES_ YOU! He would do anything for you!"

"Matthew, I thought you were someone I could trust, but it looks like you're just as blind as the rest of them."

"BLIND? You're the one seeing things! You're too selfish to realize that Arthur adores you! I'm not about to stand aside and let you ruin this for yourself! You'll break up the whole family!"

"It doesn't have to be that way..." Alfred said, suddenly quiet.

"Exactly!"

"No, you don't have to stand aside, we don't have to break up the family. Realistically, you're the only family I have. Come on Matthew, let us become one! Let us overthrow Arthur's control, think about it! We wouldn't have to be ordered around anymore! We could become the greatest nation who ever lived!"

"...no..."

"What?"

"NO! I ALREADY LOST FRANCIS, I'M NOT LOSING ARTHUR TOO JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID IDEAS!"

"STUPID? YOU'RE OKAY WITH ALL OF THIS?"

"AS A MATTER OF FACT, I AM! ARTHUR TAKES GOOD CARE OF US, I'M NOT ABOUT TO TURN AROUND AND REBEL AGAINST HIM BECAUSE _YOU_ WERE TOO IGNORANT TO GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE BUT YOURSELF!" Matt was so mad, he couldn't see straight. "I'm going for a walk"

"No, no you're not." His brother replied with sudden tranquility, "I don't care if I have to take you by force, you will join me, you'll see Matthew, you'll see, we can be North America together. It will all be fine once you see that this is the right thing to do."

"You've officially lost it Alfred."

With that, Alfred jumped Matt before he could get outside. Straddling his back, Alfred leaned down and started whispering in his brother's ear.

There was a crazed glint in his eyes, and he was wielding a hunting knife.

"Matthew," He said, in a voice that was unfamiliar to Matt, "We can do this the easy way, or..." He placed the tip of the knife on his brother's neck, "The hard way."

"Fuck you Alfred." Was all Matt said, then he threw Alfred off, tackling him to the ground and grabbing his wrists.

"Drop the goddamn knife," He hissed at him, seeing red. Instead though, Alfred tackled his brother back.

They rolled on the ground, trying to get the knife from the other. The other soldiers around them heard them and came to see what was going on, it wasn't uncommon for the two to fight, but this sounded serious. They saw the knife and tried to pry the two away from each other.

It took four soldiers each to hold them back. Alfred still had the knife, and they were both yelling at each other. The four soldiers that held Matt started leading him away, but when Matt turned around, Alfred broke free of his restraints and went straight for his brother.

The long knife sunk into Matt's shoulder until it hit the bone. He had originally just meant to stab, but his restrainers grabbed him again, pulling him off his feet, caused the knife to rip all the way down to his hip.

Matt screamed out in agony and fell to the ground. The knife had shredded flesh and nerves, causing his back to feel like it was on fire.

Alfred just stood there, staring at the knife like he couldn't believe what he just did. He dropped the bloody knife and started towards Matt, but the soldiers, six of them now, dragged him away, but he put up no resistance.

He just watched, helpless, as his brother, writhing in agony, was rushed to the medical tent, knowing that he had just nearly killed his brother.

The doctors told him later that if he had just delivered a direct blow without being pulled back,

he would have stabbed his brother right through the heart,

inevitably killing him.

It was almost a century before he saw his brother again. He had succeeded in gaining his freedom as a country, but he still didn't feel he could rejoice until Matt by his side again.

_But will he ever smile and look up to me like he did before?_

_Or will the only looks be of hatred and betrayal?_

In 1812, Alfred and a few of his soldiers were undercover in a Canadian tavern, having a few drinks and quietly discussing tomorrow's battleplan.

The pretty barmaid gave them another round, and Alfred asked her name.

"Laura, my name is Laura Secord."

"You are a very pretty woman Laura." He said, half-drunk.

"A very pretty _married_ woman." She replied.

"That just makes it more fun." He said , grinning wickedly at her.

She tried to leave, but Alfred put his arm around her, and continued to discuss his battle plan.

He didn't realize just how attentive this Laura girl was listening, or the fact that her husband was in the forces that they were planning to attack.

The next evening, Alfred and his group stealthily moved towards the tiny force. They saw the fort and prepared for attack. He knew Arthur was supporting Matthew, but he was sure Arthur wasn't there that day.

As they advanced, Alfred sent out a silent prayer for Matthew to forgive him once this was all over, but then he heard a tranquil note play.

It rang through the trees and over the lake, then the song continued and in his head, he sang along.

_When I came upon the shore,  
__I was in a new place.  
__A brand new world,  
__New challenges to face._

Alfred shook his head, not believing what he saw.

Standing in front of him was the small force, already pointing their bayonets at them.

_We're surrounded..._

Alfred suddenly looked around desperately, trying to think how this was possible, his troop was so much bigger than theirs! This attack was supposed to be a surprise!

That's when he saw it.

Matthew, holding his violin, playing the lullaby from their childhood, the barmaid from the previous night standing behind him.

Matthew passed the instrument to her, and took out his own gun. Walking right up to Alfred, the rest of the American soldiers immediately pointed their guns, but they weren't sure who to aim for.

"_YOU!_" Alfred called to the girl, who just looked at him coldly in reply.

"So, you still want to take me, eh?" Matt asked, unusually calm, considering he was pointing his gun at his brother.

"Brother, I-"

At the word, Matt swung his gun around, hitting Alfred across the face with the butt end.

"You, are NO brother of mine." He hissed. Alfred was stunned into silence, he held his face, his cheekbone was obviously broken, and his nose was bleeding profusely.

"Matthew, please, let us go back to the old days, when we would laugh and smile together..." he pleaded.

"No. You put the old days in the past, so I am too. The only way I see you now is a selfish maniac who is trying to take my nation away from me, so I must defend my people at all costs, even if it means getting rid of _you_."

"Matthew, please! You aren't seeing the truth! Become one with me! We could love each other and be happy once more!"

"Enough. Give up now before I blow you pitiful face off."

"Matt-"

"I SAID SURRENDER!"

"Fine."

"What?" Matt said, surprised.

"I said fine, I surrender. You don't consider me family anymore, so why should I even bother trying to make up for what I did to you."

Matt circled his brother, then put the blade of the bayonet to his back and grabbed his collar.

"Take as many prisoners as you can, we're bringing them to Arthur."

So when Matthew silently walked into Arthur's home in Canada, well he actually kicked the door in and threw America on the floor, Arthur was very surprised.

"Matthew what did you-"

"Do with him what you will, I'm going to protect the rest of my land from the other American troops." Matthew said curtly and left.

So after a long time of fighting and sabotage, including setting fire to the white house, Alfred gave up trying to annex Matthew's land.

One thing Alfred was surprised of, though, was how Matt had still never told anybody about his scar, never used it against him, or even brought it up. He just hoped that his brother had forgave him, and that the only thing left from that day was just a scar.

He couldn't be further from the truth.

To brothers were never sure they had forgiven each other until the end of WW1

"IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU GOT HERE!" Matthew yelled up at him, he looked ragged and war-torn, but he was smiling.


	10. Bonus Chapter!

**[A/N: Alright, so my story has officially reached 1'000 views! You guys are awesome! Like, Prussia awesome! So here's a little chapter that doesn't really have a whole lot to do with anything in the story, but hopefully you like it! I think I will post random Bonus Chapters at intervals of 1'000 views from now on :D So enjoy!]**

* * *

"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKF UCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK"

"What the hell is that nose?" Ludwig complained, it was early Saturday.

"Make it stop" Gilbert and Lovino groaned together, both a little hungover.

"Ve~ Look! It's Alfred!" Feli said, pointing, he looked slightly worried.

Ludwig walked up to the window to check, and sure enough, Alfred was running full tilt towards their house.

Not two seconds later, Alfred barged into the home, closing the door behind him, then leaning against it, breathing heavily. He was back in his military gear, his helmet was a little askew.

"I'm so dead, so _fucking_ dead!" He said, going into hysterics, "BARRICADE THE DOOR, LOCK UP THE WHOLE FUCKING HOUSE!"

"Shut. up." Gilbert said.

With lightning speed, Alfred was around the house, putting planks of wood over all the windows and doors.

"What's going on?" Feliciano asked nervously.

"I... Tim... coffee... insult... ran... broke it! I just BROKE IT! I'm dead I tell you!" He grabbed Feli's collar, "DEAD!"

"Slow down Alfred, tell us what happened, who are you running from?"

"THERE'S NO TIME! HE'LL GET HERE!" He yelled, his voice getting higher and higher.

Suddenly there was a wall of sandbags that Alfred was making into a barrier.

"What the hell are you doing? Tell us what happened right now or we'll stick you to a pole and leave you outside." Gilbert said, he was obviously very pissed and had a very bad headache.

"HE'S GONE MANADA!" Alfred cried.

"FUCK!" Lovino yelled and went behind the sandbags with America.

"Manada?" The other three of them asked in unison.

"Gilbert! You're close to him, maybe you can talk some sense into him! I don't want to DIEEE!"

"Who? Matt? Why the hell are you running from Matt?" Gilbert asked, sure that America had finally lost it.

"We were watching hockey! And I was drinking some Tim Hortons coffee and I said it wasn't as good as my Starbucks! He went a little crazy but he didn't got Manada until I tripped over his hockey stick when I was running away from him and broke it!" America explained, nearly in tears.

"You sir," Lovino said, "are very, very dead."

Alfred pulled out his phone, and called Arthur.

"Arthur man, you've gotta help me dude! Matt's gone Manad-" As soon as he said the last word, there was the audible click of the receiver.

"Why did he just hang up on you?" Gilbert asked, suddenly feeling a little scared.

Alfred had already speed-dialed somebody else.

"Ivan! Ivan! Please, I need your help! Matt's gone Manada and he's after me!" he wailed.

"Have fun in hell, da!" Was all the Russian said and hung up. Not even Ivan wanted to deal with Matt in this condition.

Suddenly there was a silence.

"Oh dear lord, he's here." Alfred said, his eyes glazing over, "Guys, get behind the sandbags."

They weren't sure if it was the emptiness in his voice or the sheer craziness of the situation, but they obliged.

"MATT I'M SO SORRY!"

There was a wicked chuckle from outside, it was enough to make Feli whimper and hold Ludwig. He handed a white flag to Alfred, who was clutching Lovino.

"Oh come on brother, dear. I just want to _talk_" Came Matt's voice from outside, nearly hissing out the last word. It wasn't his usual soft voice, it was much, much scarier.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! I SAID I WAS SO-!"

There was a loud bang, and everybody ducked. The shot blew threw the planks over the window and hit the top sandbags.

"Jesus Christ!" Gilbert yelled out in surprise.

"You wasting your time brother," He cooed in a sing songy voice, "just come out here so we can talk."

"HELL NO!"

"I just want to..." The wail of a revving chainsaw, and maniacal laughing filled the air, "TALK!"

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"

Before they could think, the front door was smashed in, a massive, snarling polar bear stood on top of it, smelling the air for Alfred.

"I only want you Alfred, I'm not going to hurt anybody else." He said calmly. He was standing in the now open doorway holding the chainsaw in front of his face, covering half of it. There was a wicked flash that passed over his glasses and the chainsaw.

Matt used his chainsaw to make all the sandbags fall to the ground, revealing the group.

Gilbert had to admit, Matt was incredibly terrifying and sexy at the same time when he was like this.

Lovino yelped and the two Italian brothers clung to each other. Gilbert just looked up calmly at him, while Ludwig was frozen.

Alfred was slowly backing up, dragging himself across the floor. Matt completely ignored the others and approached his brother.

"Look at you, you pansy, running away from your brother halfway across the world." He said in a mocking tone. Gilbert got the video camera, and smiling evilly, started recording the whole thing.

Alfred bolted and didn't even bother try and escape through a door, just ran right through the wall. Matt started laughing again and ran after him.

He ditched the chainsaw, and pulled out a hand-held machine gun and just wildly shot at Alfred, laughing loudly.

Gilbert started laughing just as maniacally watching Alfred try to dodge all the bullets while crying out for Arthur.

"MAPLE, BITCH!" Matt yelled, pulling out a bigger gun and letting Kumajirou loose.

"You show him Birdie!" Gilbert cheered.

Ludwig just shook his head, and Lovino and Feliciano were still cowering in the corner.

Gilbert was wondering when he could show everybody else the video.

* * *

**[A/N: So tell me what you guys thought of the bonus chapter :) I'd like your input on whether or not you want me to continue this or not! Thank you everyone for reading!]**


	11. Chapter 10

**[A/N: Hope you like drama! Definitely a language warning for this chapter, sorry about that! I'm already almost at another 1000 view milestone! Jesus, well I'll give you guys a choice! You can either have: "Memories" (fluffy, features Gerita), "Videos" (funny), or "The Fight" (Drama) Take you pick! Just leave a comment! Thank you guys so much! I hate to tell you guys this, but I won't be able to update for another week or so, thank you for your patience though!]**

It was a long time since that hockey game, his collar bone had healed fine without the need of medical assistance.

Although, Matt wasn't feeling the greatest.

"I think you're sick." Liz concluded, removing her hand from his warm forehead. "You know what that means, you have to _rest_ and no sneaking out of your room! It's getting cold out again."

Matthew sighed, but followed her orders, at first, anyways.

Before Matt got sick, He and Gilbert would talk every night, it never failed to make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now that he was sick though, his voice was hoarse, so he didn't want to talk to him in case he got worried. The common cold isn't much for a regular person, but for a nation, it means he's on the verge of an economic crash, or some other serious issue.

Day after day, there seemed to be no recovery, no matter how long he rested. He wasn't getting much actual sleep though, with the sickness came more of his nightmares. He was terrified to even close his eyes, but when he did sleep, he would only go under for a little bit, but then wake up again.

People had called, but Elizabeth and Fantine, by Matt's request, just said he wasn't home.

Matt was thinking that maybe Gilbert, who called every night, would think that Matt was ignoring him, but it was quite the opposite, infact, nearly every one of his sleepless nights, he thought of Gilbert, and how much he must be worrying.

"Fantine? How does my voice sound?" Matt finally asked.

"Not very well, actually Matt, I think you're getting worse, maybe you should see-"

"No. I just need my voice to sound slightly normal so I can call Gilbert back."

So he spent the next hour or so with lozenges and Fantine, until he got rid of the crackle and raspiness of his voice.

"Better?" He asked, picking up the phone.

"Oui." She said.

Dialing the familiar number, there was a few rings, and finally Feliciano picked up.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hey Feli, it's me, Matt. Is Gilbert there?"

"Yeah, he is, un momento per favore"

There was a long silence, but then a voice came on the line that made Matt's heart swell.

"Matt?"

"Gilbert, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to call you back, there were all the issues at the parliament buildings and-"

"No need to explain, but I was worried sick about you, don't do that to me again, got it?" Gilbert said sternly, but there was a hint of relief in his voice.

"You shouldn't worry about me, really I'm fine." Matt told him with a positive voice.

"If I don't worry about you, who will you listen to?"

Matt just sighed, but didn't say anything else on the matter.

Gilbert told him how much he missed him, and that he wanted to come over soon. Matt agreed he should come over, but said there was a few issues between Liz and Fantine right now, so he'd tell him when it was 'safe' to come back over.

"Well then why don't you come over here Birdie?"

"I will when I don't need to keep the sisters away from each others' throats," He joked, but he wasn't kidding about Liz and Fantine fighting, they were going as strong as ever. In fact, at that moment they were starting to raise their voices at each other again. Their fights got worse each day, last night, he had to lock them in separate rooms in opposite ends of the house.

"Well if things haven't cleared up by Friday, I don't care what the situation is, I'm going to see you."

"...Okay." Matt agreed, knowing he wouldn't be able to change his mind. He just prayed that he'd get well by then, even though it was already Wednesday.

When they finally hung up, Matt just finally let out the chain of violent coughs he had been holding in.

"Matt? Are you alright? Those coughs don't sound too good." Liz asked quietly as she walked into his room and sat beside him, patting his back. She had finished screaming at her sister, so her voice was raspy, only this time her makeup made it obvious that she had been crying.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He wheezed, "You on the other hand..."

Liz looked at him, both annoyed and concerned.

"Matt, come on, don't-"

It was at that moment that his heart started beating erratically. Breathing heavily, he clutched his chest and let out a moan. His vision went blurry and Liz stood up, helping him lay down.

"Matt? Matt?! What's wrong?!"

"...Where's... Fantine?" He managed to gasp, his vision was going red. This wasn't the first time he felt like his heart was being torn in two.

"What do you mean 'where's Fantine'?! What the hell is happening? Matt! Are you having a heart attack or something?!" Elizabeth's voice was rising in hysteria.

Last time he felt this, it went away after a vote of 50.6%

But this pain was a lot stronger and much more intense than that time.

"Fantine!" He yelled out and ran out of his bedroom. Elizabeth was beside him the whole time, trying to get an answer out of him.

"Matt, tell me what the hell is happening! Why are you trying to find Fantine? Your heart! You need to see a doctor right now!" She yelled out at him, panicking. She was grabbing hold of his arm and tried to stop him as he struggled forward.

His vision was all over the place, constantly fading to red or black, but he pressed on, desperate.

It was pouring rain outside, and they couldn't even see out the window, but Matt stumbled out the front door anyways, not even putting a jacket on.

"Matthew! Please, you're being ridiculous! Stay inside, you'll just make your cold worse! I'll go fetch Fantine, but please, stay inside and stop stressing out."

She noticed the tears rolling down his cheek, they were clearer than the dark raindrops.

She wasn't sure why, but remained where she was, watching her brother try to run into the woods.

* * *

Matt was having a difficult just staying on his feet, his heart felt like it was being stretched to its extremes and was about to split at any second.

"Fantine!" He called out before coming to an abrupt halt.

In front of him, was the cliff edge.

Fantine, completely drenched, stood there, and looked down at the land below.

"Matthieu... je suis désolé, c'est juste ... ne fonctionne pas. Ma sœur et je me bats tous les jours, nous sommes rien de semblable, je ne pense pas que je peux rester dans votre maison plus. S'il vous plaît, Matthieu, s'il vous plaît, laisse-moi partir... Permettez-moi d'être libre."

_Matthieu... I'm sorry, it just... won't work. My sister and I fight every day, we are nothing alike, I don't think I can stay in your house anymore. Please, Matthieu, please, let me go... Let me be free._

_"_Fantine, please..." Matt begged, his voice was strained.

"Non. J'ai pris ma décision, mon peuple a parlé" She said with confidence.

_No, I have made up my mind, my people have spoken._

_"_Mais pourquoi? Qu'ai-je fait de mal pour que tu me détestes?" Matt pleaded, he didn't even try to hide the fact that he was crying.

_But why? What have I done to make you hate me?_

"Ce n'est pas grave. Je t'aime, frère, mais c'est entre ma sœur et moi. Qui suis-je plaisante? Nous ne pouvons pas fonctionner ensemble, nous avons essayé et cela n'a pas fonctionné. La seule solution est ... pour le Québec se sépare du Canada."

_It doesn't matter. I love you brother, but this is between my sister and I. Who am I kidding? We cannot function together, we've tried and it didn't work. The only solution is... for Quebec to separate from Canada_

"Fantine, we've been over this, we can work something out, just please, don't jump. I know it says freedom, but you won't make it! If you jump Fantine, you won't land on your feet with grace like you think, you will smash down on the cold, hard land below! Please, think for once Fantine! Even if you _do_ survive, you will be suffering for the rest of your life, if you want your freedom so badly, then at least... at least let me help you." He hung his head in defeat, his sobs visibly shaking him. He fell to his knees in front of her, "It's suicide! Can't you see?! I don't want you to die, please, no... don't jump. I'll support you, I'll help you climb down to your freedom, I'll do anything as long as you don't hurt yourself-"

"Matthieu..." She interupted him, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, but changed her mind, her hand just fell limply to her side.

"I caught Alfred." He whispered.

"What?"

"When he jumped for his freedom, like he said, I knew I couldn't stand aside and watch him fall, I-I-I caught him, but he doesn't know that. I gave him a safety net, b-but I disguised it as just branches. I had to make sure he didn't get hurt."

Fantine inched closer to the edge, and looked down, suddenly intimidated by the great distance awaiting her. Taking a deep breath, she sighed, but gathered her courage.

"I'm _not_ Alfred, and I've already waited too long, it's either now or never... Je suis désolé"

With her last words, she threw herself over before she could doubt herself.

"NO!" Matt screamed.

Without a second thought... he jumped over the edge after her.

He was heavier, so he fell faster.

He took his little sister in his arms, ignoring her screams of protest.

The tears streamed down his face, he knew what awaited him, but at that moment he didn't care.

As they fell, he wrapped her into a ball to his chest, holding her in a death-grip.

She furiously screamed in french at him, but he just grit his teeth and held her more securely.

This might be the last time he held his sister, but he knew she'd be happy in the end, and Elizabeth can take care of herself as well.

There was no way he would let Fantine get hurt, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

After what seemed like an eternity... they hit the ground.

Matt's hold on his sister never faltered as he took the impact of the fall.

Fantine was shaken, but stood up right away. Matt was lying face-up on the ground, his arms at his sides. There was blood everywhere, but none of it was hers. She fell beside him, screaming his name.

"Are you... okay?" He managed to whisper.

"Matt vous stupide fils de pute! Pourquoi diable voulez-vous faire cela! Vous auriez pu vous tuer!" Her voice was unsteady, and she could barely see because of the tears.

_Matt you stupid son of a bitch! Why the hell would you do that! You could've killed yourself!_

"I'm glad... You're... free... now... and you're... okay... You'll finally... be... happy..." He said quietly, looking up at the sky where the rain continued to fall without mercy. The cool droplets felt nice on his face, so he let a small smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes and welcomed the cold darkness.

* * *

"Alfred! This isn't the bloody time to be playing games!" Arthur yelled at him, " What the hell are you doing?"

Alfred couldn't answer, he couldn't think. There were sharp pains that attacked his brain. He yelled out in agony.

"Alfred?" There was suddenly much more concern in his voice when he saw the tears streaming down his face.

"My head, my fucking head! OW! WHAT THE HELL!" Alfred cried out.

"Alfie, talk to me, what's wrong?!"

"My head, it hurts... so much..."

Arthur took his little brother into his arms as Alfred started shaking.

"Where the bloody hell did this come from? You were fine two seconds ago!"

"I... don't... KNOW!"

"Come on, I'm getting you to the hospital."

"No! I'm not... spending... money... on this."

"Oh hell, is it the same as the ones you had a long time ago?" Arthur realized, remembering Alfred's horrible headaches when he was just a child.

"This is... much...much... fucking worse."

"I'll call, uh, Canada, just to make sure, I'll bring you some tea."

"Fuck... your tea, bring... me... a pop."

Arthur sighed, but he knew that when Alfred was in pain, he got angry very easily. He grabbed the portable and a root beer out of the fridge. Alfred had pulled himself up on the couch, but he had buried his face in a pillow. Arthur opened the soda for him and set it beside him.

"Bollocks." He said when there was no answer on Canada's phone. Alfred had started to recover slightly, sitting up straight and taking a sip from the can.

"No answer?"

"None. Anyways, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, it's, uh, subsiding."

"I hope Canada isn't in too much trouble, but are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"His name is Matthew, and unlike Mattie, I don't have free health care."

"Free? How the bloody hell can Cana-Matthew afford to do that?" Arthur asked, curious.

"He told me once when he got it, something about higher taxes, but a ridiculous philosophy about how each Canadian supports the other Canadians, something like that. It's obvious why he gets used a lot."

"Interesting..." Arthur trailed off, but then remembered about Alfred's headaches, although they have seemed to be completely gone.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're gone. Hey, would you mind helping me get to Matt's place, I'm kind of worried."

Arthur looked at him with sympathy, although the headache had subsided, he wasn't able to walk properly yet. Arthur nodded, when Alfred was a child, his head would hurt whenever Matt got hurt, some sort of weird twin thing. Matt never told him when he was in pain, so he wondered whether it was the same for him.

"Tomorrow we will, I don't think you're up for it just yet."

Alfred didn't disagree.

The next morning, Arthur loaded Alfred into his car and they drove over the border, but neither of them knew the exact way to Matt's house, so it took them awhile to find it.

When they pulled up in the driveway, there was nobody home. Naturally, Matt's door was left unlocked, so they walked in.

"Arthur, dude... is that... blood?" Alfred asked quietly, his voice shaking as he pointed at the door. There was a red, smudged handprint that sent shivers down his spine.

"I-I... don't know."

"I don't like the look of it."

"I don't either."

So they split up, trying to find some sort of clue to Matt's whereabouts. His coat was still on the rack, and Kumajirou was wandering the house, but they couldn't coax any answers out of him.

"Useless beast." Arthur mumbled, but the bear started snarling at him, growing bigger, so he fled to Matt's room.

Closing the door on it, he took a few deep breaths and looked around. His bedroom was in pristine condition, the bed was made and everything was very neat and organized. Arthur smiled, slightly proud that at least one of the two seemed to keep this quality, Alfred's room was a nightmare.

He noticed a door behind the full length mirror. Well, actually he realized the padlock. Due to his years of pirating, he didn't even think, he walked over to it. With the lockpick he carried around, a habit he had developed a long time ago ("Never know when I might need one" He would say.), he skillfully unlocked it.

He pushed the door open and fumbled for the light. When he finally found it, there was suddenly a brighter light than he expected, it blinded him for a second, but when he blinked his heart sank.

He was in a room with one full wall made up a collage, and on the other end, was a desk with toys he didn't recognize.

There was a worn chesterfield on the last wall, and on it was a box.

He inspected the pictures, smiling a little at some of them. They brought back good memories.

"Stupid bear! You can't catch me!" He heard Alfred call from down below, he chuckled and studies some more pictures. He moved to the toys, there were three toy soldiers, but one was in white.

Arthur felt a pang of familiarity, they looked a lot like the ones he had given Alfie, but they were a little different, a little less polished, and the designs were different.

"Did... Matt make these?" He wondered out loud.

He shrugged and moved on to the box. Sitting on the couch, he opened it, and saw all the pieces of paper. He flipped the box upside down so its contents fell in front of him. Picking out one of the oldest looking ones, he studied it. It was in french, but he recognized the heading of "Angleterre" which is French for his country name.

He started to wonder what it said, but he set it aside, picking up another one. The paper looked almost as old as last time, only this time it was in english.

_Dear England, _It read.

_Alfred showed me the toys you made for him today,  
You did a really good job on them,  
but Alfie got mad at me when I said they were cute.  
I wonder if you got something for me?  
No, that's just being selfish.  
You never make things for me, only for Alfred, but that's okay, I don't mind.  
He is your little brother after all, I'm just the other kid that kind of looks like him.  
__I think I will try to make some too because I really did like them.  
__I'm going to make one a peacekeeper though, just incase their battles get out of hand. :)  
__Love,  
__Matthew._

Arthur thought for a second, he had spent so much time making nice things for Alfred...

Had he never really given anything to Matthew?

He set that letter down and picked up another one, probably older than the last. He didn't notice the dried teardrops on it.

_Dear England,_

_Why don't you love me like you love Alfred?  
Did I do something wrong?  
I'm sorry!  
I hope I didn't dissapoint you, if I did, I'm so sorry.  
Am I not good enough?  
__Do you not want me as your little brother?  
__Is it because I'm not as brave as Alfred, or as strong?  
__I'll try harder, I promise.  
__Just please, please, at least let me know what I have to do for you to love me.  
-Matthew_

Arthur's hands started to shake, and he set the letter back down.

He looked back through his memories only to see all the times he had neglected Matthew. He remembered the night he didn't help him when he was crying. He remembered all the times he put Alfred's well being over his. Canada was one of his nations as well, and didn't rebel for his freedom like Alfred did, instead he just tried to prove himself to gain his freedom.

_I never knew, I didn't even realize..._

It was at that moment Alfred walked into the room.

"Hey, dude, what'cha readin'?"

"Nothing!" He said defensively and hid the letter, but Alfie just picked up a different one and read it out loud.

"_Things people forget:_

_-Vimy Ridge_  
_-Battle of the Sommes_  
_-Paschendale_  
_-Third Battle of Ypres_  
_-Battle of Ortona (Italian Campaign)_  
_-1812_  
_-Spanish Civil War_  
_-Battle of Britain_  
_-Battle of the Atlantic_  
_-Dieppe Raid_  
_-Battle of Normandy_  
_-Battle of Scheldt_  
_-Liberation of the Netherlands_

...There's a really long list here..." Alfred said, giving up on reading.

"We didn't forget..." Arthur whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing, now let's get out of here."

"Whatever you say."

So Arthur put all the papers back and made sure it didn't look like anybody had been in here. He relocked the door and walked back to the main room. Alfred was raiding the fridge, mumbling about how Matthew didn't have anything good.

Arthur went to the phone and dialed the number that was, unfortunately, drilled into his brain.

"Bonjour Matthieu." Came Francis' voice.

"It's Arthur you wanker, now did you know anything about any letters?"

"Eh bien, c'est une déception."

_Well, this is a disappointment._

"Just answer the question, frog."

"Always to demanding, aren't you? Well maybe if you ask nicely, I'll answer."

"You useless git, just tell me."

"Well, I guess there's no changing your mind, it was worth a shot though. I told my little Matthieu when he was petit that whenever he really felt like he needed to express himself, but he had no one to talk to, to write a letter."

"Well there's a whole ton of letters up in his room."

"I know."

"You've read them?"

"You sound surprised. I am his father, non?"

"You're not his actual father, and I'm questioning the fact that you were in his room, you better not of-"

"It's nice to know how much you trust me."

"I just know how you are."

"He's mon petit Matthieu, not even _you_ can change that."

"Well anyways, what do you think of those letters?"

"I found out that you make a horrible father."

"Wha- you cheese-eating surrender monkey! I was talking about, maybe... his mental state."

"My Matthieu is perfect, you on the other hand, took him away from me and neglected him. I should be the one questioning you on _your_ state of mind."

"Shut up tosser. He doesn't seem unstable, but he's definitely... different."

"He's innocent and pure at heart, that's what makes him seem 'different' from people like you, Angleterre " and with that, Francis hung up. Arthur really hated talking to the guy, but they did grow up together, and he was normally the only one he could turn to, as difficult as it was.

He let out a sigh,

"Why don't you call one of the twin-maid-girls? One of 'em's bound to know something." Alfred said.

"Good idea."

Alfred stepped up and checked through the call history while Arthur made himself some tea.

"I think I found Matthew." Alfred called over to him.

"Huh? how?"

"Considering the last call from this phone is to 911, I'd say there is a good chance he's at the hospital, although it's probably another victim of his stupid animals he has here. Last time I couldn't get in contact with him for like, a week because he stayed by some girl's bedside after she got trampled by a moose or something."

"I'll call Elizabeth just to make sure." Arthur said. He found Matt's list of numbers, which seemed to include nearly every single country, he found Elizabeth's number and dialed it.

Right away, there was an answer.

"Fantine? Fantine?! Oh my god," Elizabeth cried on the other end of the line, "He's such a fucking IDIOT! WHY THE HELL DID HE DO THAT? I SWEAR TO GOD HE FORGETS HE'S A NATION SOMETIMES! AND GUESS WHAT THAT SON OF A BITCH HAS BEEN HIDING FROM US ALL THESE YEARS?!"

Not wanting to give away his identity for the sake of getting this information, he put on his best french accent.

"Quoi?" He responded in a high-pitched voice. Alfred gave him a funny look.

"THE DOCTORS TOOK ONE X-RAY AND ONE OF THE NURSES _FAINTED__! _THE MUSCLES AND SHIT IN HIS BACK ARE ALL DISTORTED, THEY SAID IT WAS FROM AN OLD WOUND THAT HAD A CRAPPY PATCH-UP JOB ON IT! AND I THINK BOTH YOU AND I KNOW WHERE THAT CAME FROM. NEXT TIME I SEE THAT GOD-FORSAKEN BASTARD I'M GOING TO CLAW HIS EYES OUT, MAKE HIM SUFFER LIKE MATT HAS ALL OF THESE YEARS! THEY APPROXIMATED HIS PAIN LEVEL TO BE AROUND 10 DOLS ALL THE TIME, NOT INCLUDING THE SHIT HE'S GOT HIMSELF INTO THIS TIME!" Her voice was loud and shrill.

"Didn't they never end up using dols?" Arthur said doubtfully, not even realizing his voice had returned to normal, but Elizabeth wasn't really paying attention.

"10 FUCKING DOLS! THAT'S 'UNBEARABLE PAIN'! THEY SAID IT WAS A MIRACLE HE HAD SURVIVED AS LONG AS HE HAS!" She started sobbing loudly. When she finally recovered a little bit, she started talking again.

"He never tells us, he never tells anybody, and it's all that bastard Kirkland's fault he doesn't. If only we had known, we could've helped him, he would be okay... Do you think that's why he did it? Y'know... jumped. He just wanted to end all his..." She couldn't continue, she just stayed silent.

"I'm have a half mind to call up Lovino's mafia..." She mumbled darkly. Arthur gulped and hung up.

"So...?" Alfred said expectantly. Arthur just stood there silently.

"Earth to Britain." He said waving his hand in front of his face.

The british man unexpectedly collapsed, but Alfred's reaction was quick, so he caught his big brother and lead him over the couch. Arthur just stared blankly.

"...How did Matthew get that scar?" He finally said.

"Huh?"

"The one on his back."

Alfred was silent.

"Alfred, tell me how he got that scar."

"I-I-It was an... accident." His voice was suddenly very shaky.

"An... accident?" Arthur's eyes started to focus as he stared at his previous colony.

"I wasn't thinking, I just - there was a - I didn't mean to - Something came over me - I was - They wouldn't let me help - It was all my fault" He talked quickly, his eyes starting to water.

"_You_ did it?"

"YES! I was the one, but Matthew never told anybody, that stupid idiot! He never blamed me for anything, no matter how much I deserved it, he never let me feel guilty." He whined, and buried his face in his hands.

"Alfred... we need to get to the hospital, right now. This can wait."

"The... you mean..."

"I'm just going by what I heard from Elizabeth, but it would seem so."

Alfred was up in a second and out the door in the car, forcing Arthur to ride shotgun. Alfred sped all the way to to hospital, going nearly twice the speed limit the whole way.

Arthur struggled to keep up as his little brother sprinted through the double doors and over to a petit woman at the desk.

"How may I help you sir?"

"Where's... my... brother...?" He puffed.

"You're name please?"

"My name is Alfred Jones, but I need to find Matthew Williams."

Her long fingernails clicked on the keys, Arthur finally managed to get back to Alfred's side.

"I'm truly sorry Mr. Jones, but there doesn't seem to be anybody here under that name." She told him, the corner of her lip turning down.

"Fuck." Alfred cursed, and she gave him a surprised look, "Even now he hides from me, he's using a fake name..."

"Alfred, what do you mean?"

"is there a 'Francis Kirkland'?" He asked suddenly.

She typed in the name.

"Where the bloody hell did that name come from?!" Arthur said, outraged.

"Yes, there is, he's on the third floor, in the ICU department, room number 7167"

Alfred nodded curtly and was off in a second, Arthur was mumbling something about never attaching that 'frog' to his last name.

As they both bolted upstairs, they both stopped in their tracks when a terrifying voice came from behind them.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing here?" Elizabeth practically roared, her voice like daggers.

Arthur spun around but Alfred just ran off to Matt's room.

"You son of a BITCH!" Elizabeth called after him, screaming. Arthur had to give her credit, for the condition she was in, she tackled Alfred to the ground in record time.

"All it will take is one word from me and both of you will be locked out of this hospital. I'm going to ask you politely now to leave, but if you do not oblige, then I'm going to have to take this further than I'd like too right now." The sudden, eerie calmness scared him.

"Elizabeth, right? Let me see Matt, please, I'm begging you, I have to make sure my brother is okay-"

Elizabeth just smacked him, hard.

"_You're _not_ his brother_" She hissed.

His eyes watered up, not because of the mild sting, but the painful flood of memories her words brought.

"Hey!" Arthur called out, trying to pull the crazed woman off of Alfred.

"Let go of me, eyebrows." She told him darkly.

"No Elizabeth, you're acting like a maniac."

"I'm protecting Matthew from you two!" She said, throwing him off. She moved off of Alfred so that she was blocking the way to the ICU.

"Elizabeth, please listen to us! We want to see Matt, at least tell us what happened."

"I-I... don't know what happened." She said, her voice faltering.

"What do you mean you don't know? Matthew could be there dying!"

"Shut up fattie, since when were you concerned about his well being? I don't know because Fantine just ran into the house screaming! I called the ambulance and they went and found him at the bottom of the cliff, unconscious. I still haven't seen Fantine since."

Arthur and Alfred just looked at each other.

"Mattie... _jumped_? He tried to... kill himself?" Alfred whispered.

"That's what we are thinking."

It was too much for him, Alfred ran right past Liz, knocking her into the wall. He sprinted as fast as he could to room 7167, and burst through the door. He nearly fell to Matt's bedside. There were tubes and machines everywhere. Alfred felt himself start violently shaking seeing his brother in this condition.

_You did this to him_

"Matthew? Matthew, brother?" His voice no more than a whisper, he put his hands on the sides of his brother's pale face, "Brother, wake up, please..." He begged.

He hugged Matt, or at least did to the best of his ability with all the tubing, realizing how long it had been since the two brothers had even been relatively close to each other. Matt's skin had always been unnaturally warm, some natural way of coping with the cold. Feeling the familiar, comforting warmth, he let himself weep, burying his face in Matt's neck.

He remembered the times that he was in trouble, Matt was always there for him, yet he had betrayed him, he'd caused him so much pain.

"I'm so sorry!" He quietly wailed, "Matthew, I realize you probably won't ever forgive me, and you shouldn't, but I never apologized for it. I'm so, so sorry."

Matthew felt as if he was in darkness, but he could feel his brother's embrace, hear his pleading voice. He panicked.

_NO! You were never supposed to find out!_

He wanted so badly to comfort his brother, tell him that he was forgiven, but he couldn't move. It was overwhelmingly frustrating.

Try as he may, he couldn't speak the words he wanted to say, or return the embrace.

He just lay there, limp and useless, as he blindly observed his brother suffer.

"Get the hell out of here you hypocritical bastard!" Elizabeth yelled at Alfred, trying, unsuccessfully to pull him off of Matt.

He just ignored her and held on to his brother for dear life, promising to never let him go again, to protect him.

Arthur easily grabbed and restrained her, and she just gave up. He brought her out of the room where she just glared at him.

"It's not right, he shouldn't be in there, much less in there with Matt _alone_." She practically spat.

"They're twin brothers, Elizabeth."

"They may be related by blood, but Jones is no brother of Matt's, and neither are you."

"What makes you say that?"

"You really are clueless, aren't you? I bet you don't even know how Matthew got his scar."

"I will admit I don't know a lot about hi-"

"And whose fault is that?"

"I d-"

"You realize that he's still scared of lighting? Whenever it starts storming he hides in his room and whimpers. He gets along better with animals than he does people, he never expects gifts from anybody, yet he showers others with presents whenever he can. He's desperate to satisfy and is terrified of being rejected and even though you did all of this to him, he still adores you."

Arthur remembered all the times there was a thunderstorm, how Alfred would come running into his room. He had just assumed that Matthew was fine with all of it.

"Lightning? He never once came to me, Alfred always did-"

"Matthew's not _Alfred_, In fact, I never want you to hear you compare him to that scum ever again, you hear me?"

"Sorry, it's just, I never knew-"

"Yeah, you never did know Matt. He's doesn't easily express his feelings because he thinks that his problems come second to everybody else's, since you always put him second to Alfred."

"Will you ever let me finish a sentence?"

She just ignored him, as if she had just started talking to herself.

"He's the man that takes in homeless people until they are well enough to live on their own, he nurtures any injured animal he finds back to health. You know, he wakes up screaming every night, and I blame you for it, although he'd probably murder me if he found out I was telling you this."

"... you mean he has night terrors?"

"Much worse than just night terrors. We've been in this hospital before when he had a lethal amount of caffeine in his system from trying to stay awake. I can only remember two nights where he actually slept the whole night, and those were the only two nights he wasn't alone"

"...not alone? You mean-"

"No, not _that_ way, he may be Francis' son, but he couldn't be further from him in that area. I'd put money on him still being a virgin, but he had somebody with him."

"May I know who this somebody is?" Arthur's brotherly instincts were kicking in, wanting to know exactly who Matt was hanging out with and what they were doing.

"It's not like you care. Oh- I have to take this" She said, checking her vibrating phone.

Arthur was about to interject, but the held to phone to her ear and turned away from him.

"Liz? Where are you guys? I've been calling the house and nobody was there." Came a man's voice with a thick accent.

"Thank god, I've been trying to get ahold of you, but Matt's already planned everything out, he memorized your number but managed to disguise it so we wouldn't be able to call you." She replied, walking far enough away from the British man that he couldn't hear the person on the other end of the line.

With a sigh of defeat, he peeked into Matt's room, taking a good look at him. His long hair was disarrayed, and his skin was paler than normal. He looked incredibly fragile.

Alfred had climbed up in bed with his brother and held him, crying.

Arthur walked in the room, never taking his eyes off of Alfred.

"My god, how did he manage this?" He said, inspecting the deep lacerations, bruises and casts that seem to cover his body as he sat in an empty corner of the mattress.

Alfred looked up at him from where he was nuzzling his brother's neck.

"I was so scared at first." Alfred admitted.

"What?"

"When you got him, I didn't think that you would love me as much anymore. I thought that you would get bored of me once you got a new kid. I desperately tried to make sure that you noticed me, and only me. Matthew just allowed it, but I was just a kid, and I would do anything to go back and change the fact that I was the one who deprived him of all the care he deserved."

"Alfred, don't say that, Matthew was, and still is, very reserved. You should've known you had no reason to fear, there is nothing that could change how I cared for you. I feel awful for being such a terrible brother to him, but I just couldn't leave him with Francis. I realize now that Francis would most likely never do anything to him, but at the time, I was naive and didn't want to take the chance. I now believe he would've been much better off with him..."

Alfred looked up at his brother, Arthur remembered that look from the storming nights, when the thunder was loud and the lightning was bright. He would look up at him as if he was scared the whole world was ending.

"Speaking of which, 'Francis Kirkland'?" He said, finding he had difficulty saying the name in a calm voice.

"Well, I guess it is confession time. Matt and I used to sneak out nearly every night, when we got older, we'd go to parties, hang out with soldiers, cause commotion in the local towns, or whatever we could do that night. We used fake names, I went by your Arthur Kirkland and Matt went by Francis Kirkland. Fitting, isn't it?"

Arthur wasn't sure how to reply, he just watched Alfred.

He never did get a chance to reply, Elizabeth calmly walked back into the room.

She watched Matt sadly, but reluctantly tore her eyes away from him to look at the other two men in the room. Arthur was sitting on the bed, but Alfred was curled up right with him.

"Well, Matt's enraged protector will probably be here in about 5 minutes, so if you value your lives, I suggest that you leave now."

"Matt's protector?" Alfred said, hurt that somebody had taken his job.

"A very, very protective germanic country. The clock is ticking, don't say I didn't tell you." Neither of them moved

Matt's heart rate monitor went off the charts, and nurses rushed in, Alfred had to stand up, but he was clutching his head.

_NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! ELIZABETH HOW COULD YOU TELL HIM?! HOW COULD YOU LET HIM KNOW?! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY SECRET! EVERYBODY I DIDN'T WANT FINDING OUT ABOUT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE IN THIS VERY ROOM!_

Matt was panicking, he had to be better, he couldn't let Gilbert see him like this. He heard erratic beeping but he kept struggling to do something, anything.

Alfred was suddenly gone from his side, and there were unfamiliar voices and touches all around him.

He desperately searched himself, trying to find something that might get him out of his paralysis.

As if by a miracle, he found the energy inside of him. He felt his arm again, but with feeling came pain. When the beeping slowed down and the strange noises left, he was almost able to move his arm. He tried desperately, pushing past all boundaries he found, and then suddenly, with a rush of agony, he was able to feel his arm, shoulder, and then the rest of his body again.

He realized that everybody else must've left because the beeping was the only other noise he heard.

He sent a silent thank you to whoever had given the ability to feel again, but the pain was searing, almost unbearable. Gritting his teeth, he reached up and ripped off his breathing apparatus, trying to remove everything the hospital had put in him.

He opened his eyes, and tried desperately to pull his broken body out of the bed, to get out of the hospital. He had always been strong-willed, and if he absolutely needed to, he would grit through any pain to get the job done, but he just didn't have the strength to move much more.

He realized he had missed a chord, the one attached to the heart rate monitor, so he tried to rip that one out as well.

The flat-line beep gave him away, and everybody rushed back into the room. He felt the tears of pain streaming down his face, but he didn't care at that point in time. He was just trying to make his escape.

"Matt!" Arthur, Alfred and Elizabeth called out at the same time. The nurses pushed them away and tried to reattach all the chords.

"How has he not gone into shock yet with the pain?!" The older nurse yelled.

"I don't know! He should still be comatose, how did he even wake up?!"

They tried their best to rewire him, but he struggled against them.

"No..." He manage to force out of his dry throat.

Everybody just stared at him.

"He's supposed to be in a drug-induced coma right now, it's not humanly possible to survive all this injuries right now, we'll have to put him under.

"No..." He said again, a little clearer this time, "No... Gilbert... go... don't...see" It was too late, they already loaded his IV with sedatives, and he felt himself go under.

Elizabeth was right by his side, holding his hand.

"Matthew, please understand, it's for the best, I didn't want to hide it from him..."

"Gilbert...where have I heard that name befor-" Arthur wondered out loud.

Everything happened very quickly.

The door slammed open, and the great former nation stood there.

His eyes passed right through the duo and Elizabeth and landed on Matt.

He ran up to the bed with record speed, putting himself between Matt and everybody else in the room.

Matt's eyes were nearly completely closed at this point, but he the last thing he saw before pulled under was the look of absolute terror in Gilbert's red eyes.

**[Little points you may not have caught, the 50.6% vote is the vote that kept Quebec part of Canada, at least for the time being. There was an official vote in 1980, the people of Quebec were asked, 'do you want to separate from Canada, YES or NO?', and only 50.6% said they wanted to stay in Canada, but most of those were people from the English-speaking minority or the native tribes.**

**The room number 7167 stands for the date 07/01/1867, which is the day the British North America was enacted, essentially, it's Canada day**

**Also, 'cheese-eating surrender monkey' is a british slang for a french person**

**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know it's a little sudden, but I was desparate to get an update in, so please don't hate me! Comment though which bonus chapter I should do next? Fluffy, Funny or Dramatic!]**


	12. NEWS

**Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you guys know what each one of are are absolutely amazing, and I'm so sorry I haven't been updating, I've had so much homework! :( **

**Anyways, I've decided that I'm going to take this story a lot more seriously than I was before, so I'm actually going to be going over previous chapters, editing and changing some stuff (While I do my work, I'll have random ideas come to me, so I always keep a little notepad and write them down :P )**

**I'll mark the previous chapters that I've updated, and I really do recommend re-reading them when they come up, because there will be new ideas and concepts :)**

**I hope you guys don't hate me for not updating in so long, but I don't know if I will be able to actually post a new chapter in a while, so hopefully I can go through the previous chapters quickly :)**

**I still think it's awesome that this story has over 2000 views, I didn't even think anybody would read it, I was just writing it to pass time when I was bored, but thank you so much!**

**I have a bunch of ideas for the next bonus chapter, so that will (hopefully) be the next chapter that goes up!**

**Also, I think I'll be changing the bonus chapter update to every 5000 views so I won't have to do them so often :3**

**Anyways, I'll try my hardest to get all of these up as soon as possible, so once again, I'm sorry!**


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